


It Was You

by Wargurl83



Category: Supernatural
Genre: A little bit of pining, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dealing with a serious illness, Divorce, Emma is a darling in this (i totally strayed from the source material on this), F/M, Going Home, M/M, Non-Penetrative Sex, SPNMBB, cheating (not between dean and cas), inspired by hope floats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:41:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23380381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wargurl83/pseuds/Wargurl83
Summary: After finding out his wife is cheating on him and being humiliated via the Internet, Dean Winchester decides he needs to go home to Smithville, Texas, with his daughter and try and start over. But home isn’t all its cracked up to be, thanks to who he was in High School and because of that, Dean and Emma struggle to fit in with the small town.Dean reunites with his best friend from High School, Castiel Novak, and kindles a relationship with him that hadn’t been given a chance before. But when Missouri, his adoptive mother, falls ill, his soon-to-be ex-wife tries to take everything from him.Can Dean repair his old relationships and keep his family safe? And is it enough, or does he want more?Inspired by Hope Floats
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester/Lydia (Past)
Comments: 36
Kudos: 90
Collections: SPN Media Big Bang 2020





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here we are again. Second ever MBB, the first bang I ever wrote for, and I came back for more.
> 
> This one is kinda near and dear to my heart. I love the source movie, Hope Floats. Now, you’ll notice a lot of things about this that don’t match the movie, but I do want to tell you upfront **SPOILER ALERT** \- Mama doesn’t die in this. I just couldn’t do it, and the closer I got to the scene where she dies in the movie, my brain shut down. When I swapped to a stroke instead, my brain sighed in relief and the rest was pretty easy.
> 
> Anyway… sorry for the ramble there. Thanks need to go to Mal and Scribbs, cause without them, there wouldn’t be an MBB at all. Thanks to Mal for helping me figure out which movie I should write. Thanks to Kirby for betaing for me. Thank you to ncdover1285 for the artwork. It was a joy working with you and just _/flails_. You can go to [Tumblr](https://ncdover1285.tumblr.com/post/616032063710216192/art-for-it-was-you-by-the-talented-wargurl83-for) and look at them all at once (like I do) or you can see them embedded in the story. If you DO go to Tumblr, be a doll and reblog it!
> 
> But most of all? Thank you to everyone who clicks on this and reads it. Thank you for the kudos and the comments. Even if you don’t think it matters, it does, cause it means I don’t feel like I’m just throwing my voice into the void. So, again. Thank you.

Cole waved at Dean as he showed the camera crew from WHDH through the yard to Dean's woodworking shop. Cole felt his chest swell with pride for his friend as the finished pieces came into view, but when he remembered what he's there to do, his shoulders slumped and his breath whooshed out of him.

He's here today to destroy his best friend's life.

Cole watched as the crew set up and waved the reporter over to him. "So uh, just let me talk to him before you guys start, OK?"

The reporter - Stephanie, he thinks - nodded and grinned at him. "You got it." She looked over the furniture Dean's got strewn across the shop. "He's got a hell of a talent. Boston doesn't usually get to see work like this."

Cole smiled awkwardly. "Yeah. Look-"

"Cole! You son of a bitch, come here," Dean said as he jumped down off the back porch and grabbed Cole up into a hug.

Cole's ribs protested and his heart jumped up into his throat at the gesture. He awkwardly patted Dean's back and said, "Hey man, before this gets started, I need to talk to you."

Dean's eyes were dancing as he let Cole go and followed him over to the side of the shop. "Sure man, what's up?"

Cole sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Dean, you know you are my best friend in the world, but I need to get this off my chest."

Dean's eyes went soft and he squeezed Cole's shoulder. "Dude, you can tell me anything, you know that."

Cole took a deep breath and looked down at his hands. "Dean I… Lydia and I have been sleeping together for the past year." He felt Dean's hand slip off his shoulder and the tips of Dean's work boots disappeared from his sight. "She's inside right now packing a bag. She's leaving you and Emma, and the papers for divorce are on the kitchen table." He looked up to see Dean covering his mouth with his hand, eyes shining with tears. "Dean, I'm so sorry-"

Dean cut him off with a raised hand. "Don't,” he snarled. “You don't get to tell me you're sorry.” He turned away from Cole, raking his hands through his hair. He thumped the wall of the barn with the flat of his fist, head hanging down, before he turned back to Cole, rage in his eyes. “You son of a bitch, you're supposed to be my best friend!"

Cole reached for him but dropped his hands to his sides as Dean flinched back. "Dean, I really am sorry. I didn't go and plan to fall in love with your wife, but here we are and-" Stars burst across his vision and Cole felt himself go sideways. He caught himself on the edge of the doorway and shook his head to clear his vision. He looked up and Dean's shaking his hand out, face dark.

"Get out. Get out of my sight." Cole can see Dean shaking with rage. Something caught his eye and he realized that the crew was all there…

… and that they had been rolling the entire time.

Cole closed his eyes in shame. He dropped his head, tucked his metaphorical tail between his legs, and ran.

He didn't look back.

And of course, nothing in this world is sacred.

Stephanie the reporter tried to keep the video from getting out, but unbeknownst to the crew, their Facebook Live feed had already been rolling. Bob had signed in to get ready and had accidentally started the cast. The whole thing had been broadcast live, and by the time the station had pulled it down, it was too late. Someone had uploaded the video to YouTube, and from there it was like watching a match light a wildfire in an area that had already been soaked in gasoline.

It went viral in less than twelve hours and was worldwide trending as _#poorsap_ in eighteen hours.

And all Stephanie could do was watch helplessly as the life of the talented woodworker from Texas went up in flames.


	2. Chapter 2

_"I spent twenty years trying to get out of this place / I was looking for something I couldn't replace / I was running away from the only thing I've ever known-"_

Dean reached over and turned the volume down, muttering under his breath about the fact that he doesn't want to go home, but it was the only place left for them now. His ten-year-old daughter, Emma, was asleep in the passenger seat, securely buckled with her bunny clutched in her arms. Everything that Dean could get from the house was packed into the backseat of Baby, his '67 Chevy Impala. The car was the only thing he’d wanted after his father passed away in a drunk driving accident since the Winchesters had damn near lived in it all of Dean’s childhood. He'd had to leave almost everything behind in Boston but they had clothes, important papers, pictures, keepsakes that couldn't be replaced, and most importantly, his woodworking tools, safely tucked into the trunk of the car under the suitcases of clothing.

Dean blew a breath out and focused on the road through the fading light. They'd finally made it past Houston traffic and were on the last leg to get home.

Home- the last place Dean wanted to go.

Smithville, Texas. A small town outside of Austin, where he'd grown up with his brother and foster mother. His little brother Sam had moved off to Austin with his wife Jess and was a big-shot lawyer, but his foster mother, Missouri, still lived in Smithville. She had called and told him in no uncertain terms that he was to pack up his baby and everything he needed and to get his tail back home shortly after Cole had fled from his house. She hadn't even heard anything about what happened yet, but that was Missouri for you.

As it turned out, it had been a good thing that Missouri had called as soon as she had because shortly after her call, his phone started blowing up with calls from local (and not so local) news outlets calling for a statement from him. The showdown between him and Cole had gone viral, and Dean had no choice but to turn his phone off, pack up everything he could, and flee Boston with his daughter. He'd picked up a cheap phone outside of Newton and called his family with the new number, tossing his old phone into the trashcan outside to the entrance of Walmart.

Now, just a few hours from seeing his mom again, Dean's heart was trying to crawl its way out of his ribcage. He suddenly realized that he was scared.

High school wasn't the easiest for him. Small town Texas meant football, and that meant that if he wanted to be noticed by the girls (and not be outed as bi) he had to play football. As the star quarterback of the team, he'd been popular. Popularity meant that, well, some people didn't really like him.

And he knew, just knew, that his old "friends" were going to use this as a way to tear him down when he was already pretty damn low.

He sighed again and turned up the radio just a smidgen to hear the opening notes of “Ramble On” and felt a smile stretch across his lips. Good ole' Zep.

A few hours later, Emma's awake and they were chatting about what her new school is going to be like and they pass a sign welcoming them to Smithville. Emma's eyes went wide when she saw the population.

"Less than five thousand? Really, Dad?"

Dean shrugged. "I told you it was a small town."

Emma looked back out the window in time for them to start driving down Main. "I'm pretty sure our whole school in Boston would fit here."

Dean laughed. "You aren't wrong, kiddo. But we don't have to stay forever, just until I get back on my feet. Mama Missouri and Jack will be glad to see us, though. It's been a while."

Emma hummed under her breath. "Is Mom going to come down?"

Dean's chest tightened. "Probably not, punkin’. Mom and I, well. We need some time apart."

Emma looked over at Dean and studied him in the gathering dark. "Why?"

Dean sighed. "Look, Emma-"

"Don't tell me I won't understand. I saw the video."

Dean winced. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. But if you saw it, you know why we need time apart."

"But what about me?"

And that's the question that Dean's been dreading. The last three days on the road he'd been rolling Cole's words around in his head "She's leaving you and Emma". He's still at a loss on how to explain to Emma that Lydia has apparently decided to not only leave Dean but also their daughter, behind. He took a deep breath and handed over the letter that Lydia left for Emma. He'd already read it, so as Emma opens it the words flashed back to the forefront of his mind.

> _Emma, my sweet daughter._
> 
> _Please understand that you have done nothing wrong, but I need some time apart from you and your Dad. I don't love your Dad anymore, but my love for you will never change. Be good for your Daddy, he needs you right now._
> 
> _All my love,_
> 
> _Mom_

Emma folded the letter back up and tucked it away in her backpack. She bit her lip and looked over at Dean, hugging her bunny tighter. "Will Mom come back to get me?"

Dean shrugged. "I don't know the answer to that, sweetheart. I do know she loves you, but I don't know what's going on in her head. Just… just give her some time, OK?"

Emma nodded and ducked her head down to nose the soft fur on her stuffed bunny. "OK," she said in a small voice.

Dean caught sight of the turnoff for Missouri's street and guided Baby through the neighborhood down to the end of the street. He put Baby into park and looked up in time to see Missouri coming down the stairs, Jack following close behind. Dean grinned as he stood up from the driver's seat and wrapped Missouri in a tight hug. He breathed in her soft floral scent and felt his chest loosen slightly. "Hi, Mama."

Missouri drew back and smacked him in the shoulder. "Don't you 'hi Mama' me boy. It's been too long and you know it." She turned around and crouched down, arms wide. "Come here sweet girl and give Mama Missouri a hug."

Emma rushed into Missouri's arms and threw her arms around her neck, burying her nose into her shoulder. "Hi Mama," she mumbled into her shoulder.

Jack walked up to Dean and hugged his legs. "Hi, Uncle Dean."

Dean leaned down and scooped Jack up, tossing him in the air a little before hugging the six-year-old to his chest. "Hey there Jack. How ya doin’?"

Jack grinned and tucked his head into the crook of Dean's shoulder. He looked at Missouri as she stood up.

"Ah, don't be worrying about him none. He's just not much of a talker right now," she said as she helped Emma get her backpack on and get one of the suitcases out of Baby's trunk. "How was the drive?"

Dean shrugged. "It went."

Missouri pursed her lips and nodded once. "Alright well, I got you set up in your old room, and Emma's in Sam's. Get your tools and bag, we'll worry about the rest of it later. Come on Jack, let’s go show Miss Emma where she's gonna be staying."

Jack slithered down Dean's body and dashed over to Emma, shyly holding his hand out for her to take. The two youngsters clasped hands and dashed up the front steps, and Dean heard giggles drift back to him as they go.

Missouri stood next to Dean, barely coming up to his shoulder. "She'll be OK, baby. She's gonna go through a rough patch, but she'll be OK."

Dean quirked a grin and side-eyed her. "Is that your intuition talkin' or common sense?"

She smacked him in the chest with the back of her hand, but Dean could see the smile stretched across her face. "No sassin’ me boy, or I'll not let you have any of the apple pie I made this afternoon."

Dean just grinned like a loon as he followed her into the house. Even as shitty as the situation is, it's good to be home and to see his mom again. Maybe Bon Jovi was wrong and you _can_ go home again.

Later that night, after hauling in all of their things, eating dinner, and getting Emma off to bed, Dean sat down at the kitchen bar with a glass of water. Missouri bustled around, putting the dinner dishes away and humming quietly.

"Mama?"

"Yes, Dean?"

"Are you happy here?"

Missouri looked over at Dean and raised an eyebrow. "Of course I am, dear, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed."

"But… why? Everyone in this town tries to look down their nose at you."

Missouri shrugged as she hung the towel on the oven handle to dry. "Everyone doesn't matter, only me and my family." She sat down next to Dean and pulled him into a hug. "Sweetheart, I learned a long time ago that it's not worth it to give a damn what 'everyone else' thinks. It's not worth my time or my energy. You gotta make you happy, honey, and everyone else can fall in line or get out of the way. Plus I got plenty of friends here, people who are just extended family."

Dean leaned into his mom and sipped from his glass as he thought. "Mama, what did I do wrong? What's so wrong with me that it scared Lydia off like that? That my best friend betrayed me like that?"

Missouri's face fell. "Oh, honey. Nothin' is wrong with you. Do you hear me? Nothing is wrong with you. I know it hurts right now, but I promise, you will pull through this to the other side."

Dean laid his head down on his mom's shoulder and fought back a sob. "It hurts so much."

Missouri rubbed a hand up and down Dean's back. "I know honey, I know."

They sat quietly for a few minutes before Dean slowly drew back and sniffled. "Thanks, Mama."

Missouri cupped his cheek. "What for, honey?"

"For everything. Takin' me and Sammy in when we were kids, puttin' up with my bullshit. Callin' me when shit went down with Cole and telling me to haul my ass home. All of it." He took a deep breath. "I'm not sure what I'd do if I didn't have you in my corner."

"And you'll never have to find out."

They said their goodnights and Dean refilled his glass before making his way upstairs. He made sure to avoid the squeaky steps and spots on the second floor as he glided down the hallway and poked his head into Emma's room to check on her. She was tucked in, snug as a bug, arms wrapped around her bunny. He slipped in and made sure her night light was on before he gave her a kiss on the forehead and brushed the hair off her face. He slipped out of the room, pulling the door closed but not letting it latch, as per her instructions from earlier, and made his way to his own room. He sat the glass of water down on the bedside table and stripped down to his boxers before flopping on the bed. He looked at the stick on stars that he and Sam had put on the ceiling when they were kids and fought the sob crawling up his throat.

He turned over on his side and stared out the window. Lydia had written him a letter to explain her side of things, but how does one explain their change of heart to someone they were supposed to love? Someone that they had been with for years and had a child with?

> _Dean-_
> 
> _I suppose I should say that I'm sorry. I know this has been sprung on you seemingly out of left field, but for me, it's been a long time coming. I haven't been in love with you for a very long time, if ever. But I stayed with you because you did love me, and it was expected. And I was happy for a long time. But meeting Cole, watching your friendship bloom, opened my eyes to what else I could have. Please, don't blame Cole for this. He wanted to tell you as soon as our relationship started shifting from friends to more, but I was selfish. And scared, I can see that now. Please don't let Emma blame herself for this. I know she's going to ask, but I don't plan on coming back for her. In the paperwork, you'll see that I have signed over all parental rights to you. She's my daughter, and I love her, but I need a clean break. Please don't tell her yet. I'll explain when I understand myself better._
> 
> _-Lydia_

Dean scoffed as the words of the letter floated across his mind and curled in tighter around himself. Silent tears tracked down his face and he turned to bury himself into his pillows to try and block out the world.

Dean cracked an eye open when his phone started playing “Heat of the Moment”, and he groped around his bedside table until he caught it. He answered and hit speaker. "Mornin' Sammy," he croaked.

Sam snorted. "Dean, it's like, noon. Are you still in bed?"

Dean pulled the blanket over his head. "Dude, it's not like I have a job to get to. Plus, it's Saturday. Even Emma sleeps in on Saturdays."

"Uh-huh. Well, glad you made it at least. Missouri called me last night when you got in."

Dean groaned and buried his face in the pillow. "Shit Sam, I'm sorry, I totally forgot."

Sam's voice was soft when he answered. "It's alright Dean. Like I said, Missouri called me when you pulled in and I could hear the Impala's engine, so I knew you made it just fine." He was quiet for a few seconds, then asked, "How are you doing?"

"Not great, but I'll get there." Dean sat up and let the blanket pool around on his lap. "Mama and I talked last night and it helped some but… It hurts, you know?"

"I can't even imagine. Dean, you let me know if you need anything, alright?"

Dean nodded before he remembered his brother couldn't see him. "Yeah Sammy, I will." He snorted. "You know any good divorce lawyers?"

Sam chuckled. "As a matter of fact, I do. Her name's Charlie. Want me to send her your way?"

"Yeah man, that'd be great."

"Consider it done. I'll have her call you before she heads that way. And Dean?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm proud of you. We'll see you next weekend, OK?"

"You got it, little brother." The beeping of the phone disconnecting prompted Dean to scrub a hand over his face. He winced at the scruff that had collected over the last few days and decided that it was time to get his game face on. He dragged himself out of bed and into the bathroom, going through his morning - now afternoon - routine. Missouri bustled in as he was brushing his teeth.

"Oh good, you're up. Got a project for you."

Dean took the toothbrush out of his mouth and spit the foam into the sink. "Oh yeah?"

"Mm. Front porch swing needs to be looked at, I think the hooks are trying to strip their way out of the handles."

Dean rinsed his mouth out before he responded. "Alright Mama, I'll take a look. Anything else you want me to look at while I'm out there?"

She waved her hand at him. "Just take a look around, make sure everything's in tip-top shape."

Dean eyed Missouri warily. "OK Mama, I'll bite. Why?"

"Eh, just figure that since you're here I'd keep you busy, put those hands to work. Hurry on down, I've got sandwiches ready to be put together." She left his room without waiting for a response, leaving Dean to blink a few times in confusion. He shrugged and stuck his toothbrush back in his mouth and finished his oral hygiene before wandering downstairs to appease his grumbling stomach.

He tromped down the stairs in time to see Jack and Emma smashing together sandwiches. He ruffled Emma's hair as he passed, causing her to squawk in indignation. She swatted his hand away and he grinned down at her. Jack pushed his plate down the table and settled next to Emma so Dean could get to the sandwich fixings.

"And how are you two this afternoon?" Dean asked the kids.

"Awesome, Dad. Jack got me up in time to watch cartoons this morning and Mama Missouri let me go with her to feed the ducks."

"Did she now," he mused as he slathered mayo on the bread and started building his sandwich.

"Yup! And then Jack 'n me started talking about the school. He's gonna show me around when I start there. When will I start school?"

Dean snapped his fingers. "I knew I was forgetting something before we left. I'll go down to the school and get you set up Monday morning, alright?"

Emma nodded furiously to signal her agreement, mouth occupied by the big bite of sandwich she'd just taken. Dean smiled at seeing her cheeks puffed out. Yeah, the apple didn't fall far from the tree on that one.

"Alright, good. I doubt you'll have a hard time, we're only six weeks into the school year and I'm sure Boston will either be ahead or at the same place they are here." Dean took a bite of his sandwich and groaned. "Oh my gawd," he mumbled around his mouthful, "Jack, is Mama growing her own tomatoes again this year?"

Jack nodded and hastily swallowed his bite. "Yup, and she lets me help pick weeds now that the plants are big enough I can tell the difference between good and bad ones."

Dean swallowed before he continued. "Well, you must'a done good, cause these tomatoes are awesome."

Missouri passed by the table on her way to the kitchen. "I'm glad you think so. There's plenty more where that came from and don't think I've forgotten your normal aversion to vegetables, honey. You'll be eatin' a lot better under my roof, you hear?"

Dean chuckled. "Mama, I eat just as many vegetables as Emma does nowadays. Had to set a good example." He winked at Emma, who grinned back.

Missouri hummed. "Well good. Glad something got you eatin' better than you used to."

"Oh don't worry Mama, I still have an unhealthy appetite for pie and burgers." He straightened up. "Mama, you'll let me in the kitchen to cook, right?"

"Of course honey."

"Oh good, cause I want to make you guys my burgers at least once." Dean saw Emma fist pump in triumph out of the corner of his eye. "Emma even likes them, don't you squirt?"

"Yes," she said, drawing the sound of the s out as long as she could. "So much better than Mc Donald's."

The three at the table finished their lunches quickly after that. Jack and Emma were shooed outside by Missouri to explore the backyard and Dean wandered out to the front porch to inspect the swing. He ran his hands over the smooth wood, remembering the time spent on this porch like a long-lost friend. He inspected the anchor locations and made a mental note to stop in town at the hardware store to get some things to keep the hooks from ripping through and to pick up some new outdoor pillows. He gingerly sat down, looking out over the yard, smiling when he caught sight of Emma and Jack running through the field with the neighbor's golden retriever.

"It's old, but still sits good," Missouri murmured as she sat down on the swing next to Dean.

"You were right, some of the hooks are trying to rip free. I'll go see Bobby tomorrow and get some washers to help hold everything together." He slung an arm over her shoulders, and she leaned into him.

"Thank you, honey."

They sat silently, watching their respective children. Dean started humming “Dust in the Wind” under his breath and they let the wind gently push the swing back and forth. Dean smiled when Emma shrieked as she landed on her butt in the dirt after being knocked over by the dog chasing a stick. She bounced right back up and chased Jack around the yard and they laughed, easing the ache in Dean's chest somewhat.

"When are you going to tell her?" Missouri asked quietly.

Dean grinned to himself and shook his head. Missouri was called the town 'physic' for a reason. "I'm not, for now. That's Lydia's story to tell her daughter why she doesn't want to have anything else to do with her."

Missouri eyed Dean. "Plus it wouldn't do for Emma to hear that rage from her father."

Dean shrugged. "Mama, I can't help it. I got lucky with you. I can't imagine someone walking away from their kid for any reason, you know?"

Missouri nodded. "I know. I'm glad Sonny got hold of me when everything went down with your dad."

Dean hugged her tighter. "Best decision I've ever made, reaching out to Sonny for help. Just wish I'd done it earlier."

"It happened exactly when it was supposed to. You were already sixteen and could have won emancipation in any state, but you knew that Sam would have gone into the system had you filed for it. Doing what you did ensured you two stayed together and it got you to me. So whatever else happened, I'm glad it went that way. And I'm glad you are here now."

They sat for a few more hours, just catching up with each other, before deciding it was time for dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

Monday morning came entirely too quickly for Dean. He slapped around his bedside table to cut the sounds of “Sweet Child o' Mine” off and dragged himself out from under the blankets before stumbling into some clothing (sniff test says he can wear this shirt long enough to get Emma enrolled into school). He blearily made his way down to the kitchen to start breakfast for the two school-goers (pancakes) and a pot of coffee for him. As he was flipping the last pancake he heard two sets of feet tromping down the stairs and looked up in time to see Emma and Jack jump off the last step and scramble over to the table to set dishes out for the three of them.

"Mornin' Dad."

Dean plunked a kiss on her head as he plated a pancake for her and set the syrup down. "Mornin' sweetheart. Need help with your hair this morning?"

"Yes, please. Just a ponytail today."

"You got it." Dean plated a pancake for Jack. "Need me to cut it up for you?" Jack nodded, and Dean pulled the plate over. "You OK with me using my fingers?" Jack nodded again, so he set to tearing up the pancake quickly so his nephew could get to eat. Jack beamed at him when he slid the plate back over, and Dean winked at him before going back in the kitchen and grabbing his mug of coffee. "Ya'll ready for school already?"

Both kids nodded in confirmation as they stuffed their faces, and Dean took the opportunity to follow suit and eat his two 'cakes as fast as he could. Missouri wandered down as they were finishing and grabbed a plate for herself before dropping a kiss on Dean's forehead and disappearing into the kitchen for a mug of her own coffee. Dean gathered the plates when they were finished and sent Emma upstairs to get her brush and a scrunchie while Jack made sure both of them had their backpacks ready to go with the lunches Missouri had made the night before.

Emma ran downstairs and presented Dean with the brush and turned around so Dean could brush her hair. "You excited for today?" he asked quietly as he brushed her blond hair back.

"Scared, actually. What if no one likes me?"

"Pfft, you're my kid. Everyone will love you."

Emma shrugged her shoulders. "But what if they don't?"

Dean finished securing the ponytail before he turned her around to face him. "You know what, kiddo? If they don't, then fuck 'em. You are the awesomest kid to ever kid, and if they don't want to get to know you, then it's on them." He thought for a second and grabbed the spoon he'd used in his coffee. "You know what? We are starting a new life here. And new lives mean a wish gets granted. So, you want new friends?"

She nodded.

Dean waved the spoon around in a nonsense pattern, then booped her nose, eliciting a giggle. "There. Wish granted. You shall have new friends, it is done."

Emma threw her arms around his neck and squeezed tight before the grandfather clock in the hall started dinging the time. "Oh! We gotta get going or we're gonna be late!" She rushed over to Jack and took her backpack from him and they ran out the door, Dean close on their heels, and piled into Baby.

On the way to school, Dean's cell phone buzzed in his pocket, so he dug it out and handed it over to Emma. "Who is it, sweetheart?"

"It's Mom."

"Answer it for me and hand it over?" Emma accepted the call and put the phone in Dean's hand. He squished it between his ear and shoulder. "Lydia."

"Good morning Dean. Can I speak with my daughter?"

Dean ground his teeth. "Our daughter. And yes, she's right here." He motioned to Emma to take the phone from him.

"Hi, Mom. No, it's fine. Going to school. Yes. Yes. OK. Are you going to visit?" Her shoulders slumped. "OK. Love you too, here's Dad." She stuck the phone back on his shoulder so he could talk to Lydia again.

"What."

"There's no reason to be snippy, Dean. Have you filled out the divorce papers yet?"

Dean rolled his eyes as he made a right turn to head down Main. "No. I'm going to have a lawyer look at them first."

Lydia huffed. "Fine, whatever. Just hurry up and get them done and filed."

"Sure thing Lyds. I'll let you know when they are done. If there are any questions, I'll let my lawyer take care of it."

Dean could _hear_ Lydia roll her eyes. "It's not like you have anything I can take from you, Dean. Just sign them and file."

"Lydia, we are not going to have a conversation like this while I'm driving, let alone with our daughter in the car. If we have any questions, we'll let you know." He motioned to Emma to take the phone again and she hung up when he asked her to. "Thanks, kiddo."

The car was quiet, so Dean fiddled with the radio dial until he landed on 93.7 and the notes of “Ramblin' Man” flow through Baby's speakers.

A few minutes later, they pulled up to Smithville Elementary. Dean navigated Baby into a parking spot and got out with Jack and Emma. At the doors, Jack waved and ran to his homeroom while Dean and Emma made their way to the office. Emma sat down while Dean talked to the woman at the front desk, a cheerful blond by the name of Joy, and filled out the paperwork he needed to get Emma enrolled. The first bell rang while he was filling the forms out, but they all ignored it.

Once he was finished, he handed it back over to Joy and took his seat next to Emma. "Sorry about your late start today, kiddo."

Emma shrugged. "It's OK Dad. Tomorrow will be better." They knocked their shoulders together and sat quietly for a few more minutes until a tall woman with short white-blond hair stepped out of the office behind the desk.

"Winchester?"

They stood up and crossed the room, Dean with his hand outstretched for a handshake and Emma clutching her backpack to her chest. "That'd be us."

"Pleasure." She stepped back and allowed them to step into the office before she followed and shut the door. "My name is Naomi Tapping. I'm the principal here." She smoothed her hands on the legs of her pantsuit before she sat down behind her desk and folded her hands on the top. "I understand you've just moved back to town?"

Dean nodded. "Sorry about the late enrollment, but we didn't make it to town until late Friday night."

She waved him off. "It's no trouble. I just wanted to chat with the two of you for a few minutes, say my welcomes and introduce myself." She looked over at Emma. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to come to me or one of my staff, OK?" Emma nodded silently and Principal Tapping smiled. "Alright. Mr. Winchester, Emma, let's get you to your homeroom."

They all stand up and Joy waves at Emma. "I'll show you to Miss Harvelle's room."

Dean stopped. "Harvelle?"

Joy nodded. "Mhm. Joanna Beth Harvelle teaches one of the classes for fifth grade. Emma's been assigned to her class."

Dean grinned and looked down at Emma, who had a question in her eyes. "Well, what do you know. Jo was one of my best friends growing up, munchkin. I think you'll like her."

Emma grinned up at Dean and they followed Joy down the hallway. Outside Miss Harvelle's room, Joy shook hands with Dean and left the two alone.

Dean squatted next to Emma. "Do you want me to come pick you up after school?"

"Nah, it's OK. I'll walk home with Jack."

"Alright. Come here squirt, give me a hug."

Emma rolled her eyes but threw her arms around Dean and squeezed him as tightly as she could. Dean caught a flicker of a smile on her face as she turned to the classroom door and pushed it open. She turned back to him and waved before ducking inside, leaving Dean to wander through the hallways. He took in the pictures and trophies lining the walls. He noticed the section they had set aside for the last time the Tigers won a championship and was surprised to find that his junior year was the last time they'd gone all the way to State.

Senior year had sucked in a lot of ways. Alliances had formed that year that wreaked havoc on the cheer and football teams and on the student body in general. Dean still didn't know what caused it, but shortly after he and Lydia had started dating at Homecoming, everything went to shit. A winning season took a sharp turn, Dean's friends started pulling away, and even Sammy had avoided him like the plague. By the time graduation had come around, Dean was more than happy to follow Lydia wherever she wanted to go if only to get away from everything that was going on.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and made his way out of the school and to the parking lot. He slid behind the wheel of his car and turned the engine over. “Up Around the Bend” greeted him from the radio, and he smiled as he backed the car out and pointed her back to the main part of town. He mentally ran over his shopping list for the porch swing. He parked Baby in front of the Post Office - might as well do his other chores while he's out - and wandered down to Singer's Hardware.

The bell rang when he pushed in, and Dean heard a gruff shout from the back telling him he'd be right out. Dean smiled to himself and grabbed a bucket, patting Rufus' head as he passed the old Rottweiler. He gathered what he needed into the bucket, throwing in a few hand tools that he'd left behind, and made it back up to the front at the same time Bobby Singer came grumbling through the store. Dean sat the bucket down next to the register and turned to face the older man.

"Hey, Bobby."

Bobby stopped and looked up sharply. "Dean?"

Dean took two steps toward Bobby, then stopped and scuffed the toe of his shoe on the floor. Bobby closed the distance between the two men, wrapping Dean up in a bear hug.

"God damn son, it's good to see you." Dean half laughed when Bobby pulled back and slapped him on the back of the head. "That's for not visiting your mama more often, idjit."

"Well, we won't have to worry about that ever again."

Bobby's face fell a little. "Yeah, heard about that. Nasty business. I did see the excellent right hook you nailed that jackass with, though." He made his way behind the counter and started ringing Dean's things up. "Did I catch a glimpse of furniture in that video by chance?"

Dean winced at the reminder of the hours of work he'd left behind but nodded to Bobby. "Yeah. Lyds didn't want me to get a job, not with her working full time and Emma needing someone at home, but sitting at home and doing nothing was driving me crazy." He shrugged. "You know me. I've always liked doing things with my hands and woodworking was something I could drop pretty much at will. When Emma was younger, I stuck with hand carving, but as she got older she liked to hang out in the shop with me."

"Well, from what I saw it looked damn good, son."

Dean felt his cheeks warm. "Thanks, Bobby." He cleared his throat and gestured at the items. "What do I owe ya?"

"Dinner with me an' Ellen, and $8.50."

Dean grinned. "Sold to both." He dug a ten out of his wallet and passed it over. "What day you want my butt parked at your place?"

"Gimme your number and I'll let you know. Ellen'll have my hide if I try to make a decision without her. And bring Emma."

"You got it." They exchanged numbers along with Dean's change, and Dean waved on his way out the door, heart feeling light for the first time since this shit-show started.

Dean sat back on his heels, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He tipped his head back and smiled at Missouri when she came out to the porch and handed him a glass of lavender lemonade as she sat down next to him on the steps. "Thanks, Mama."

"Honey… How long have you and Lyds been having problems?"

Dean sighed and set the glass down next to him on the top step. "Honestly, Mama? Our whole relationship. But I had no idea she was unhappy with me to the extent she'd cheat on me."

Missouri cradled her chin in her hand and hummed. "Why didn't you say anything? Come home? Talk to me?"

Dean shrugged. "Dunno. I just- you already raised me once, and I was supposed to be a fucking adult."

"Honey." Missouri cupped his cheeks and made him look at her. "Mamas don't just raise their children to adulthood and then leave them hanging. Not the good ones, anyway. You never have to worry about me not wanting to talk, to help."

"I just- I didn't want to come crawlin' back here like this, you know? Hear everyone in this fucking town say they told me so." Dean sniffled and ducked his head out of Missouri's grasp. "Lyds and I were supposed to have it all. The star football player and the cheerleader. The perfect couple. And now? Now I'm a high school graduate with no work history to speak of. A single father living at home with his mother because he's too pathetic to support himself. A failure."

"Dean Winchester, you are not a failure. You may be a little lost right now, but you are _my_ son. And none of my children are failures." She pulled him into a hug and Dean soaked in the comfort of his mother for a while before he pulled away. He distracted himself by showing Missouri what he'd done to the swing (a temporary measure until he can build her a new one, he told himself) and what he wanted to do for the front porch.

"Mama, those front steps need to be replaced sooner rather than later. One's starting to sag and I'm guessing its rotted."

She hummed and nodded. "Do what you need to do, honey. Tell Bobby to charge anything you need to my account." She patted his shoulder and stood up. "Potpie for dinner tonight?"

"Chicken?" Dean asked, hopefully.

Missouri scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Is there any other kind?" She waved at him and let herself in the front door.

Dean laughed and busied himself making a list of repairs for the front porch and materials to go with them. He heard scuffing on the dirt path beside the house and looked up in time to see Jack and Emma round the house.

"Hey, guys!" He set his notebook to the side and stuck his pencil behind his ear. "How was school?"

Emma glared at Dean and pushed past them, letting the screen door slam behind her.

Dean looked back at Jack. "What was that all about?"

Jack shrugged. "Dunno. She didn't say much on the way home, either." He waved at Dean and ran inside after his cousin, making sure to not let the door slam shut after him.

All Dean could do was chew on his lip and worry.

"Jack, have you ever seen two bigger mopes?"

Jack, dressed in a green jumper with his face painted to match, looked up from his dinner plate and grinned around his bite of pot pie. "Ribbit."

Missouri pointed her fork at him. "You got that right." She turns her fork to Dean and Emma in turn. "Two mopes. That's a mope, and that's a mope."

Dean rolled his eyes and glared at his dinner, pushing the food around the plate. "Mama-."

"Don't you 'Mama' me, boy. You both are sitting over there like lumps on a log. Dean, stop chasing your food across the plate, it's not going to eat itself." She turned to Emma, who was hiding a smile behind her hand. "Emma, sweetheart, how was your first day?"

Emma shrugged. "Not all that great, really. Everyone just sat and stared at me in class."

"Ribbit."

"That's right Jack. He said it's cause you are a big city girl and he thinks they are all afraid to talk to you."

Emma wrinkled her nose. "Really? They were saying mean things about me and Daddy when Miss Harvelle told them my last name."

Dean looked sharply at his daughter. "Say what?"

Emma's cheeks flushed and she looked down at her dinner and took a big bite to avoid having to tell her father anything they said.

Missouri tutted at them. "Don't hold it against them, dear. They grew up with busybodies for parents, they don't know any better. And I know once they get to know you, they'll come around. And if they don't, well fuck em." The curse word drew a giggle out of Emma and Jack and caused Dean's jaw to drop as he looked at Missouri. "Oh don't look at me like that, you say it all the time."

She's interrupted by the doorbell, and Jack pushed away from the table, running to the door.

Dean raised an eyebrow. "You expectin' someone?"

Missouri waved him away. "Not really. Just Cas coming by to check on my beds."

Dean's stomach dropped and he spluttered. "Cas? Cas Novak? What's he coming to check your bed for?!"

Missouri swatted him as she passed on her way to the hallway. "Not _my_ bed, the flower and veggie beds, honey. Now come on, come say hi to your old friend."

Dean's mind was a hive of angry bees as he thought about coming face-to-face with Castiel Novak again for the first time in twelve years. They'd been the best of friends from the time Missouri had taken Sam and him in all the way through the first part of Senior year. They'd drifted apart after he started dating Lydia though, and after graduation, well.

Dean shoved his chair back and rounded the hallway and saw him for the first time in far too long.

Cas was squatted down on his heels talking to Jack, hat in his hands. Dean took in the messy dark brown hair, the white t-shirt that stretched obscenely across his shoulders, and _holy shit_ when had the boy he'd grown up with turned into a man?

And not just a man, but a fuckin’ _hot_ one. Dean may lean more towards women in general, but he's known he was bi since before he came to Smithville the first time. And grown-up Cas was pushing _all_ of his buttons.

He watched as Cas stood up from his crouch and had to keep himself from drooling as he watched the man's thighs work under the faded Levi's that look like they'd been painted on. A deep chuckle snapped him out of his daze and his eyes shot up to Cas'. Dean swallowed hard as he was snared in that cobalt blue gaze like a minnow in a bait store's net.

"Hello, Dean."

Dean swallowed again. "Uh. Hey Cas."

"It's good to see you. Not the way I wanted it to happen, but I'm glad even so."

Dean felt his lips twitch. "You still talk like you ate an encyclopedia."

"And you still talk like a redneck, so I guess we're even," Cas shot back, a twinkle in his eye betraying the smile he was holding back.

Dean felt someone press into the back of his legs and twisted around to check who it was. Emma stared up at him. "Who is that, Dad?"

"That, sweetheart, is my best friend Cas. He and I were thick as thieves when we were little."

Emma peeked around Dean's legs to take Castiel in. "He's pretty."

Dean catches Cas hiding a grin behind his hand as he responds to his daughter. "He sure is. Why don't you help Mama Missouri clean up so I can try to catch up with Cas a little? It's been twelve years since I seen him last."

Emma's eyes went wide. "That's longer than I've been alive."

"Yup, which means we've got a lot to catch up on. Go on, we won't be too long."

Emma grinned and scampered off, followed closely by a hopping Jack.

Cas shook his head. "Is that your daughter?"

Dean watched the two disappear into the kitchen. "Yeah, my pride and joy."

Cas laughed. "I never thought I'd hear you say that about something other than Baby."

Dean looked back at Cas. "Yeah well, things change when you have a kid. She's my world." He crossed over to Castiel and pulled him into a tight hug. "God, I'm so glad to see you Cas."

Cas hummed as he banded his arms around Dean's shoulders. "Likewise." They pulled apart after a few seconds, and Dean watched the smile slip from his friend's face. "How are you really, Dean?"

Dean's shoulders slumped. "Let's take this out back," he said, turning away and leading them to the back porch. They leaned against the railing, Cas letting Dean work through his thoughts until he took a deep breath. "Honestly? I'm not doing great. This feels like it came outta left field."

Cas bumped his shoulder. "I meant what I said, though. I am glad you are back. Lydia… never really cared for our friendship, otherwise, I would have tried to stay in contact. Being here you at least have some people in your corner and willing to go to bat for you."

Dean looked over at Cas. "What do you mean, Lydia never cared for our friendship?" This was the first he'd ever heard of it.

Cas blanched a little and looked away. "Ah, she never spoke with you about it, I see." He sighed, pulling his hat off and running his hand through his hair. "Shortly after you two started dating she made it clear to me that there was no room in your relationship for me."

Dean turned to face Cas fully, anger washing through him. "What? Why didn't you say something?"

Cas shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. I saw the way you looked at her- like she hung the moon and stars - and just…" he trailed off and shrugged again. "I eventually saw it for myself and took myself out of the equation."

Dean blinked a few times, hurting for his friend. "Cas -"

Cas straightened up and put his hat back on. "It's alright, Dean. It's in the past. Let's go take a look at Mama's veggie beds, see what she needs fixing up so I can get to Bobby's and get the stuff." Cas jumped down off the porch and wandered over to the beds where the tomato plants were growing up a trellis and poked around the cedar planks and the low mesh fencing that wrapped around the bed to keep the critters out. He hummed over the mesh, lifting it in a few places to check for bite marks.

Dean shook his head and went back inside, ignoring everyone as he passed them, and went upstairs. He faceplanted into bed and wiggled under the blankets and pillows until he was able to block out all the light and almost all of the sounds drifting up from the bottom floor. He heard Emma and Jack get ready for bed and eventually heard a truck start, the sound of the engine fading away as his brain finally let him go to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The morning after Cas’s unexpected visit, Dean woke to the sound of two elephants tromping down the stairs. He lifted his head and looked blearily at his door, then decided it wasn't worth it and dropped his head back down. He grumbled and burrowed under the covers and pulled his pillows over his head to block out the sounds of the kids downstairs and the neighbor's dog greeting Missouri as she did her morning rounds feeding the ducks.

Dean must have drifted off again because when Missouri kicked his door open with the vacuum, he bolted upright in a panic.

"Mama!"

Missouri didn't hear him (or was ignoring him, either was likely), and she danced along behind her ancient vacuum over to the windows. Dean didn't catch what she was up to before she ripped the curtains back, letting sunlight stream into the room, dust motes dancing along the beams.

"MAMA!" Dean shouted, throwing his arm up to shield his eyes.

Missouri turned off the vacuum and spun around to face Dean. "Oh honey, I'm sorry, I figured when you didn't come downstairs for breakfast you'd already gone off to do something. I didn't see you all snuggled up in your bed."

"Mama, breakfast was at seven, where in the world would I have gone before seven am this morning?" Yeah, Dean was feeling a little grouchy today, but he felt like he had a right at this point. It's been a shitty week.

Missouri, apparently, didn't feel the same. "Don't you be snippin' at me, boy. I know it's been a rough few days, but I didn't cause none of this."

Dean scrubbed his hands down his face, instantly feeling guilty. "I know Mama, and I'm sorry. Not sure what's up with me this morning."

Missouri sat down on the bed next to Dean. "It's alright. I expected more of it, to be honest with you. You two boys have never been good dealin’ with 'feelings' and it usually bunched all up and came out as anger." She smoothed a hand down Dean's back, and he found himself leaning into her. "Just remember us little folks have feelings too, alright?"

Dean nodded. "Mama, do you know anyone around here hiring? I walked down Main yesterday after I talked to Bobby, but didn't see any signs up."

"Mmm, you won't. They all go through the agency these days."

Dean groaned. "And who's running it now?"

Missouri blanched and refused to look at Dean. "Lisa Breaden."

Dean blanched with her. "Crap."

"Mmhm. Did you know she has a son now?"

Dean eyed his mother warily. "No..."

"Mmhmm. Boy's father took off though. Honestly, she's better off without him." She blinked and shook herself out of what looked like a trance. "Anyway, I doubt she's still holding a grudge against you. It's been thirteen years, after all."

Thirteen years since he dumped her in favor of Lydia. While Dean was pretty sure that while Lisa may not be mad at him anymore, he knew damn well she was not above rubbing his recent misfortune in his face.

Dean grumbled and hid his face in Missouri's shoulder for a few seconds before he sighed. "Well, might as well face the music sooner rather than later. I gotta get a job so I can help out around here."

Missouri patted his back. "That's the spirit, honey."

He watched his mother bustle out of his room and decided that he truly did not feel up to being human yet, so he stumbled over to the window, tugged the curtains closed, then flopped back onto his bed. He buried himself under the blankets and dozed off to the sounds of Missouri moving around the house. He drifted in and out of sleep until just after one when someone started what sounded like a chainsaw under his window.

"MAMA!" Dean bolted up in bed, twinging something in his back. He grimaced and looked around for his pajama pants (he wears boxers to bed because PJ pants get all tangled, thank you very much) before finding them at the end of the bed. He snatched them up and hopped around, trying to get his legs shoved into them without falling over. He stalked over to the window and ripped the curtain back to see Castiel out in the backyard with a tiller. His mouth went dry at the sight of the man's arms as he wrestled with the machine, keeping it in line and under control.

"Boy really grew up, didn't he?"

Dean jerked back from the window, cheeks flaming. "Don't know what yr talkin' about."

Missouri laughed. "Dean, honey, you don't have to hide from me." Dean quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head at his mother, causing her to laugh more. "Sweetheart, I've known you was bi since you and Sam moved in with me."

Dean paled.

Missouri patted his cheek. "If it makes you feel any better, honey, you weren't the only one who appreciated Leah in her slave outfit a little too much."

Dean's eyes went wide as her comment pinged around in his brain. "But -"

"You'd be surprised how many town folks here swing in ways you wouldn't expect." She patted his shoulder. "You should go on out there, blow the stink off and help him with that project. He's gonna need help with putting the raised bed together, anyway."

"I never did like that saying."

"That's because you don't get it. Now get yourself into an old pair of jeans and a shirt you don't care about and get on out there." She swatted him on the ass, making him jump and glare after her as she cackled her way out of his room.

He sighed and looked out to see Cas wiping his forehead with a bandanna. He looked down at himself and grimaced, deciding that he could at least get dressed and take Cas some lemonade. He dug his ratty jeans out and traded his PJs out for the jeans, a white v-neck shirt, and his work boots.

He tromped down to the kitchen and gathered up the pitcher and glasses (because of course Missouri already knew what he was up to), and made his way to the backyard. Dean had to stop and appreciate Cas' ass in the same Levi's as he'd had on last night because _damn_ his ass was fine.

"And to what do I owe this objectification?"

Dean's jaw snapped shut and he felt the blush bloom on his cheeks. "Uh, thirsty?"

Cas chuckled. "I am, yes. Thank you, Dean." He dusted his hands off, running his hands over those thick ass thighs and _Jesus Christ_ Winchester, get a hold of yourself. Cas looked at him, concern written on his face as he took one of the glasses and filled it with lemonade. "You OK, Dean? Have you been drinking?"

Dean shook himself out of his thoughts and poured himself a glass. "No, I have not been drinking," he huffed. "Do I have a coaster stuck to my butt or something? Dolores and Shanna both asked me that yesterday too!" He twisted around, trying to look at his butt to illustrate his ire.

Cas laughed, and the sound twisted through Dean's chest. Dean stopped contorting himself around and winked at Cas. "It's good to hear your laugh again, man. I missed it."

A blush sprang up on Cas' cheeks, and he ducked his head to hide behind the brim of his hat. "I missed you as well, Dean."

Dean slapped his hands together. "So! What's Mama got us working on today?"

"Us?"

"Yeah, she shooed me out here to 'blow the stink off' or whatever. Said you'd need help building the raised bed."

Cas raised an eyebrow at that and cast a glance toward the house, but just shrugged. "Mama wants to put some more beds in now that you and Emma are here so she can plant more for next year." He jutted his chin toward the open field next to the pond. "She wants us to till that area and get it ready for flowers too. She wants to bring in honey bees next year."

Dean felt himself grin. "She does, or you do?"

Cas scowled at him. "OK fine, she's letting me bring the hives in here so they can be next to a good water source."

Dean laughed and slapped Cas' shoulder. "Well, sounds like we've got our work cut out for us then, huh?"

Cas nodded and drained his glass before setting it back down. "Let's get started."

They worked the rest of the afternoon tilling the areas that needed it, trading off on the machine and digging up rocks. Dean convinced Cas to put the rocks bigger than a clenched fist to the side to build a spiral herb garden as a surprise to Missouri, and Dean was pretty sure he hadn’t enjoyed an afternoon like that in a long time.

They took a break around three when Jack and Emma came home. Emma repeated her non-greeting to Dean and Cas, ignoring them in favor of slamming into the house. Jack, however, took the opportunity to tackle Cas at the knees. "Hi, Cas!"

Cas chuckled and ruffled Jack's hair before he plopped his hat down on the youngster's head. "Hi, Jack. How was school?"

Jack launched into a full-scale retelling of his day as the three relocated to the back porch and took refuge in its shade. Dean sat with Jack in his lap as he regaled them with tales from the kindergarten recess time.

"And then, Johnny found a frog! He brought it inside with him and it freaked Miss Anna out so much. She screamed when Johnny showed it to her, and it made Johnny drop him so it tried to hop away, but it started hopping towards the girls and they all freaked out and ran to the tables and climbed on top of them. So I scooped him up and took him back outside near the pond. But then I got yelled at because I wasn't where I was supposed to be, but Miss Anna came and got me and explained that I was the hero of the classroom." He took a breath. "So then I got to wear a cape the rest of the day!"

Cas' eyes were wide. "Wow. Sounds like you had an exciting day."

Jack shrugged. "It was OK."

Dean chuckled, making Jack bounce around on his knees and grin over his shoulder at him.

"Well," Cas said. "I sure hope you washed your hands after you took him back outside." He grinned and winked at Dean. "I hear frogs can give you warts."

Jack gasped in horror. "What'r warts?" He didn't stay to find out though and scrambled down off Dean's lap. He waved at the two men and dashed inside, yelling to Missouri that he needed to wash his hands _right now_. They burst into laughter as the back door slammed shut.

"You've scared that kid for life."

Cas scrubbed a hand down his face. "I know, but did you see his face? Worth it."

Dean laughed harder. "I'm going to have to explain to him later, but yeah, it was pretty worth it." They chucked a for a few more minutes before they sobered. They sat silently until Dean's phone went off.

"Hello?"

"Dean Winchester?"

"Speaking." He looked over at Cas and quirked his eyebrow. He hadn't given his new number out to anyone beyond family and Cas, not even to the school.

"Awesome! So my name is Charlie and Sam gave me your number, said you needed a divorce lawyer?"

Dean felt the stress leave his shoulders and he switched it over to speaker before laying the phone on the table between them. "Sure do. Sam sending you my way?"

She chuckled. "Better than that, I actually live in Smithville. Moved here the year after you left, actually. Graduated from UT at Austin."

Cas’s face lit up. "Charlie?"

A squeal drifted from the phone. "Cas! What are you doing with Mr. Winchester?"

"I was doing some yard work for Missouri. We were just taking a break."

"Well, I know this is a small town, but that's just funny. Well, I guess I know where I need to go to meet up with you now, Mr. Winchester. Missouri and I are great friends." Dean hears rustling in the background. "Does two pm tomorrow sound good to you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. I'll let Mama know to expect you."

Charlie snorts. "Dude. She already knows. She'll have her cards out for me too when I get there, mark my words."

Dean considered. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Coolie-o! Cas, see you tonight at the Roadhouse?"

"You know it."

"Alright, see ya!" She hung up and Dean stared at his phone, perplexed.

"Dude, do you know everyone around here!?"

Cas just shrugged and gave him a shit-eating grin.

Cas left shortly after the phone call ended, promising to stop by again as soon as he could so they could continue working on the yard. Dean showered and wandered down to the kitchen dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He kissed Missouri on the cheek as he passed her and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator.

"You look nice honey, you heading to the Roadhouse tonight?"

Sometimes his mother's intuition scared the shit out of him. Maybe she really was psychic. "No Mama. I've not been invited and don't really feel like going alone." He kissed her on the cheek again and went out to the front porch, settling in on the swing. He sipped at his beer, watching the sunset and sorted through his thoughts.

So far, being back home hadn't been too bad, but he knew the universe was just biding its time. He'd only really interacted with people who had viewed him favorably in his younger years. He tapped the bottle against his lip, wondering what has been eating at Emma. He made a mental note to talk to her after dinner, try to drag out of her what's causing the grey cloud to follow her around.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, his mind turned to Lydia. He could admit to himself, looking back, that he wasn't really in love with her. It didn't dull the hurt, the anger, of her and Cole's betrayal though, because it also hurt Emma. Dean snorted to himself. All these years, he'd been terrified of turning out to be just like his father, and Fate had other plans.

He just hoped that he would be able to continue to not be a deadbeat like his old man.

The next morning, Dean pulled into the hiring agency's lone parking spot for visitors and put Baby into park. He sat for a few seconds, listening to her engine tick as it cooled down. He squeezed the steering wheel, grounding himself, before blowing out a breath and nodding to himself. He managed to get out of the car without falling on his face and did one last pat-down before he walked into the agency.

A blond woman shrieked and jumped up, running over to hug him. "Dean Winchester! How good to see you!" She ran her hands down his chest, smoothing the flannel he wore out and poked his nose. "Becky Rosen," she said before whirling around and running back to her desk.

Dean's eyes shot up. That was Becky? "Wow. Shows how long I've been gone. I didn't even recognize you, Becky. How've you been?"

Becky seated herself in front of her computer and waved him off. "Oh, I'm just fine. Never did get that date with your brother by the way." She winked at him.

Dean tried his best to hide his shudder.

"Anyway!" she chirped. "I bet you are here to see Lisa."

"Oh uh, yeah. From what I understand she runs this place now?"

"She sure does! Well, let me just let her know you are here, OK?"

Dean nodded as she jumped up and bustled over to a closed door. She knocked once before sticking her head in, talking excitedly. He watched her body language go from excited, to tense, and then to dejected as she pulled her head back and softly closed the door. She stood with her hand on the wood for a few seconds before she turned back to Dean.

"Lisa said to just wait, she'll be out in a little bit to collect you." She walked slowly back to her desk, eyes downcast and shoulders hunched. They sat in silence, the ticking of the clock behind her and the sounds of her keyboard the only sounds in the room.

Lisa kept him cooling his heels for thirty minutes before the door to her office opened and she stepped out into the lobby. "Mr. Winchester?"

Dean flinched as he stood up and crossed over to her, hand out for her to shake. She flicked her gaze down to it before turning away and leading him into her office.

"Please close the door." Her heels clicked on the wood floor as she made her way to her desk and she was taking her seat when he turned around to face her. He felt underdressed in his clean jeans, flannel, and undershirt compared to her smart pantsuit. He cleared his throat.

She pointed to the chair in front of her desk. "Please sit down. Did you bring your resume in with you?"

He fidgeted as he sat. "I don't have one." She raised her eyebrows at him. "Lydi- my ex didn't want me working when we had our daughter, insisted that I stay home with her."

She hummed. "You didn't have a job before she was born?"

"Uh, I worked for a temp agency doing construction jobs until Emma was born. Nothing brain-busting or anything. After Emma was born I started my own business selling hand-carved wood and furniture to keep busy, though."

She nodded and focused on her computer. "OK. I'm going to ask you some questions, see if we can match you up with something that's available right now. We don't have any construction going on right now, so I'm afraid that's out." She scrolled for a few seconds, then flicked her gaze over to Dean. "Can you type?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"How fast?"

"I'm not sure."

She clicked around for a few seconds. "Computer skills?"

"I get by."

"Education?"

Dean squirmed. "High school."

Lisa sighed. "Look, Dean, you're going to have to give me something to work with here. There's nothing here for a high school jock turned house husband."

Dean flushed. "Lisa, look. I know you hate me, and you have every right to. But it's not just me anymore that I have to support. I have a ten-year-old daughter who depends on me now, and her mother has just left us in the dust. We don't have anything, so just- please. Help me find something that I won't hate myself for. Please?"

Lisa looked away from him, and he followed her gaze to a silver frame on her desk. She sighed and looked back at Dean. "I understand. Let's see what we can find. We'll go listing by listing, OK?"

Dean nodded. "Thank you, Lisa," he breathed, and they got to work.

A few hours later, a very emotionally wrung out Dean waved goodbye to Lisa and Becky as he left the agency. They'd gotten applications sent over to a few places around town and Lisa advised him that she would let him know as soon as she heard from one of them. The options weren't great, but in a small town like Smithville, pickings were slim, and he'd take what he could get.

He got into Baby, intending on heading straight home when his stomach let out a growl. He rolled his eyes at himself - he'd forgone eating this morning due to his nerves, and looked around for somewhere to eat. He brightened when he caught sight of The Roadhouse, and pulled into the parking lot and headed inside. The inside was dim and it took a bit for his eyes to adjust.

"Well if it isn't Dean Winchester."

Dean brightened and broke into a grin. "Ellen!" He rushed to the blond woman and gathered her up into a tight hug, swinging her around in a circle as she barked a laugh.

"Alright you heathen, put me down!" She smacked him in the shoulder after her feet were on the ground. "That's for not comin' and seeing me sooner."

Dean rubbed his arm and pouted at her. "Awe, c'mon Ellen, I've only been back for a few days."

She sniffed and whipped around, throwing the towel in her hand over her shoulder. "You had time to go see Bobby."

Dean hurried after her. "I had to visit his shop, not the old coot himself."

Ellen took her place behind the bar and raised an eyebrow at Dean. "Alright, I'll let you off this once. I assume you're here for one of my burgers?"

Dean grinned. "Yup."

"Alright, go find you a table, I'll get you some food and a beer and bring it to you shortly." She disappeared into the kitchen and Dean ambled over to a table next to the window. Sitting down, he cast his gaze around the bar, taking in what had changed and what hadn't in the years he'd been gone. The majority of the bar was the same, but there was a stage sitting over near the pool tables that hadn't been there when he left. When Ellen brought him his beer, he asked her about it.

"Oh, we started doing karaoke a few years ago. And about a year and a half ago some of the kids started up a band, so they play here some Friday nights when there isn't a football game."

"Huh. I might have to come in and check that out."

She patted his shoulder. "You should do that, honey. Jo works karaoke nights, and I know she'll be thrilled to see you."

He grinned up at her. "Did she tell you they put my little nugget in her class?"

Ellen sat down next to him. "She sure did. Emma tell you about the bullies?"

Dean shook his head. "Not yet. I figure she will eventually, but I know she's gotta be ready to tell me, you know?"

Ellen looked troubled as she hummed. "Well, brush up with her on how to deal with them, will you? From what Jo told me it’s a little boy in the class that's the ringleader, and he's got a reputation for being nasty and hands-on when the grown-ups aren't around."

Dean clenched his jaw and nodded. "I'll talk to her. Thanks, Ellen."

They sat in silence until Dean's food came out. Ellen patted him on the shoulder again and left him alone to enjoy his lunch.

As he took his last bite, a gravel voice floated from over his shoulder. "Bold choice, eating by yourself."

Dean looked over his shoulder with a grin. "I'd like to think I'm pulling it off."

Cas came up behind him, hat in hand. "Well, you do seem to be pretty mysterious but not closed off. You give the air of the choice being yours."

Dean waved him over and Cas took the seat Ellen had abandoned. "Well, I have picked a few things up seeing as I was usually the one eating alone when my wife forgot about my existence." He shrugged as Cas looked at him sadly. "You get used to it after a while."

Cas cleared his throat. "Well. Make sure you order dessert. Just to spite everyone who's looking at you, for whatever reason." He pushed his chair back and perched his hat back on his head. "Well, I'm going to collect my lunch from Ellen. It was good to see you again, Dean."

"Yeah, you too Cas." Dean watched him walk over to the bar, admiring the view until his phone chirped, reminding him of his appointment with Charlie. He threw enough cash down on the table to cover everything plus a tip, waved to Ellen, and rushed out.

A bright yellow Gremlin was sitting in the driveway when Dean pulled in, and he winced. He'd thought for sure Charlie had said two, but now he wasn't so sure. He saw Missouri sitting in the now-repaired swing and she waved to him.

"Honey, you aren't late, Charlie just came by early for the cards to talk to her." She patted the space next to her and he sat down, huffing a sigh of relief.

"Scared me for a minute there, Mama. Where is she?"

The screen door opened with a creak and a petite red-head emerged with a tray of lemonade and three glasses with ice. "Oh, three glasses makes sense now," she said as she sat the tray down. "Charlie Bradbury," she said with a grin, sticking her hand out to Dean.

Dean shook it with a grin of his own. "Dean Winchester, but you already know that. Love the shirt."

Charlie looked down at her shirt that boldly proclaimed 'Han Shot First!' and grinned. "Thanks. This doesn't make you uncomfortable, does it?"

Missouri snorted, drawing a glare from Dean. "No. He did shoot first," he said, sticking his tongue out at Missouri. It was a long-standing feud between the two of them.

Charlie grinned at the two of them. "I think we're gonna get along just fine."

The afternoon was spent getting to know each other. Charlie and Dean got along like a house on fire (Missouri's words) as they discovered more and more things they had in common. At three, Charlie sat back, pointing at Dean.

"Alright. So now comes the part that we all hate. Show me the papers, Dean."

Dean heaved a sigh and ran upstairs to get the divorce papers along with the letters that Lydia had written them. He grabbed another pitcher of lemonade before going back outside, handing the papers over to Charlie before swapping out the empty pitcher for the full one. He made sure to rinse it, hopefully dithering long enough for Charlie to read through everything before he made his way back outside again.

"Alright, well. The good news is she isn't asking for anything," Charlie said, glasses perched on her nose, as he sat back down next to Missouri.

"Well, yeah. I don't really have anything."

"Mm, that's actually not true," she countered. "You make furniture, right?"

Dean squinted at her. "Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"Since the furniture is made and sold from the property you share, technically she could push for you to liquidate the stock and split the income. But it looks like here all she wants is to sell the house, split assets to the owners, and sign full custody of Emma over to you. Including all parental rights, which would mean she'd be able to squirm her way out of having to provide child support."

Missouri's lips thinned and Dean sighed. "I was afraid that's what that meant. She's really going to leave me in the dust here. She literally owns everything. She technically owns the furniture too, since it's on her property."

Charlie raised an eyebrow at him. "She's the only one on the mortgage?"

Dean licked his lips. "Yeah. I've never worked a steady job. She didn't want me to."

Charlie pulled out a notebook and took notes. "OK, we can work with this. Dean, are you OK with me hiring someone to clear the house and barn of your personal items, including the furniture?"

"You can do that?"

"Yup," she said, popping the 'p'. "As long as it's done before you sign this, you still legally live there. So I need you to make me a list of everything you want to be saved and a description of the furniture. I'll get in contact with a mover up there I know - his name is Gabe and he'll be more than happy to help you with this - and arrange it to be shipped down here so it's in your possession. As your lawyer starting now, I advise you to not sign these papers until then. Got it?"

Dean nodded mutely.

Charlie took her glasses off and tapped her lips with them a few times. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised at how cut and dry she's trying to make this. Relationships that have lasted as long as yours has are rarely easy to deal with and it seems like she just wants to get rid of you two as soon as possible."

"You aren't far off, Charlie. Even Cole said she was leaving 'us' instead of just me. I truly think that she doesn't want anything to do with us ever again."

A sob to his left caught Dean's attention. Dean looked over to see his daughter and Jack at the foot of the stairs, a look of shock on Emma's face. "Dad?"

Dean felt his heart tug and motioned for her to come over to him. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"I thought Mom still loved me. She said she did in her letter." Emma's eyes were filling with tears and her voice wobbled.

"I'm sure she does, sweetheart, but…" He sighed and ran a hand down his face. "She doesn't - she - urg." He closed his eyes and tried to center himself so he could explain what was going on to his daughter without hurting her. When he opened his eyes, she was looking at him with tears streaking down her face.

"She doesn't want me anymore, does she?"

Dean shook his head. "No sweetheart, I don't think she does. In those papers Miss Charlie is holding," he pointed to her and the woman in question raised a hand and gave a sad smile, "your mother is signing full parental rights and custody to me."

Emma looked confused and Dean cast about for a better way to explain it. Charlie cut in after a nod from Dean.

"Sweetie," she said, drawing Emma's attention to her. "It means that she won't be your mommy anymore. She won't have any reason to come see you ever again and you would have no reason to see her ever again unless you both wanted it. Does that make sense?"

Emma nodded for a second, then started shaking her head, making tears fly off her cheeks. Dean gathered her to his chest, and she collapsed in his embrace, sobbing. Jack climbed up into Missouri's lap and laid a hand on Emma's ankle, squeezing to let her know he was there.

Charlie got up, gathering the papers and her notebook. She made a 'call me' gesture at Dean, and he nodded at her before she made her way down the front steps to the Gremlin and drove off. Dean and Missouri cuddled the kids until Emma had cried herself out, falling asleep in Dean's lap. They made their way into the house, Dean taking Emma upstairs and tucking her into bed and Missouri taking Jack to the kitchen to make dinner for the three of them. They decided on something that could be reheated easily if Emma woke up later.

It was a quiet and sober night.


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later the sound of his phone ringing woke Dean up. He rolled over, grumbling, and swiped the phone off the table.

"'Llo?"

"Dean?" It was Lisa.

Dean sat up in bed and rubbed a hand down his face. "Yeah, sorry Lisa. What's up?"

"One of the places we sent your application to came back and wanted to give you a shot. Feel up to coming down to the office today?"

Dean pulled the phone away from his ear to check the time. Nine am- he missed seeing Emma off to school again. He sighed and put the phone back to his ear. "Give me an hour?"

"You got it," Lisa replied before disconnecting the call.

Dean sped through a shower and shave before jumping into clean clothes. He ran downstairs, had a breakfast sandwich stuffed in his face and cheek kissed by Missouri, and was out the door in twenty minutes. He finished his sandwich as he walked into the agency and threw a wave at Becky before ducking into Lisa's office.

"Hey, Dean." Lisa didn't look at him as she shuffled some papers around on her desk. "Take a seat."

She guided him through the paperwork he needed to fill out before sitting back in her chair. "Alright, let’s get you down to the store."

They walked the quarter-mile to the store before Lisa led him inside a nondescript building with the sign "Crowley's Furniture" above the door. The man himself is obviously a transplant to the area, but the British man is interesting and a breath of fresh air from the people Dean had graduated with. Lisa waved good-bye to them and Crowley showed him around the store. Dean's hopes were dashed when he realized that this was a pre-fab furniture store.

"Ya'll ever bring in anything hand-made?"

Crowley shook his head. "Nope. A lot of this is the same stuff that Ikea has. People want easy to deal with and cheap, so that's what I stock."

Dean nodded. "So what do you need me to do?"

"Well," Crowley drawled, looking Dean up and down. "You look like a strapping lad. I figure I'll have you on the sales floor for the most part. Send you out for when someone needs help putting stuff together, stuff like that."

"Sounds easy enough." Dean took the vest that Crowley handed him and slipped it on over his shirt and ran a hand down the front self-consciously. Crowley slapped a hand on his shoulder and pointed him to the cash register, leaving him in the care of a goofy-looking' fellow by the name of Garth. Garth, as Dean found out, was the manager of the store, will be showing Dean the ropes, and likes to hug.

A lot.

It was a little weird.

Garth showed him how to ring up sales, how to take orders over the phone, and how to pull orders from online. He also showed him how to set up deliveries with Ash's Moving Service. They didn’t have enough business to have their own delivery driver, but they'd worked something out with the owner of the moving company so that everyone was happy. By the time Dean was released for the day at seven, his head felt ready to burst and he was pathetically glad of the weekend they were giving him.

"Now, you be here by eight sharp Monday morning, you hear?" Garth said as he gave Dean a hug good-bye. "We'll get you settled in during the week, then we'll talk about getting you rotated in on Saturdays. We're closed Sundays though, so you always get Sunday off. You know, with it being the Lord's day and all."

Dean managed not to roll his eyes at the mention of church - this was Texas, after all - and threw a wave to Garth as he left. He made his way down the street to where Baby was waiting and slid behind the wheel. He sighed and let his head hit the seat. He sat with his eyes closed for a few minutes, just letting the familiar scent of Baby seep into his nose and the stress bleed from his shoulders. He rolled his head to the right and dug out his phone.

"Bring home some hamburger meat and shredded jack cheese please," Missouri greets him when she answered.

Dean blinked a few times, trying to figure out what she would be making with the two before deciding his brain was too tired and gave up. "Alright. You know when Sam is going to be getting here?"

"He's already here, honey. They ate on the way in. The cheese is for supper tonight and the hamburger is for tomorrow. Sam wants your burgers."

Dean chuckled. "Alright, Mama. I'll be home shortly."

She hummed before disconnecting the call and Dean shook his head. His Mama, always keeping him on his toes. His phone buzzed with a message.

Text from Mama: _That's my job, honey. Now get to the store and get your tail home._

Dean laughed as he started the car and put her in gear.

Shrieking assaulted Dean's ears when he stepped in the back door, causing him to wince as he ducked into the kitchen. He dropped a kiss to Missouri's upturned cheek and put the cheese and meat in the fridge. "Smells good in here, Mama."

"Blackened Chicken with my mac and cheese. It's just about done if you want to stir in the cheese. Actually, you may want to hold off-" She was interrupted by a giant moose invading the kitchen and picking Dean up in a tight hug.

"Sam," he wheezed. "Can't breathe."

Sam set him down on his feet but kept him in a (looser) hug. "Dean, I am so damn glad to see you." Sam finally drew back, keeping his hands on Dean's shoulders. "It's been too long."

Dean felt tears clogging his throat and drew Sam into another hug to hide them from his brother. It really had been too long. The last time he'd seen Sam was before Emma started school, and that was only because Sam had been in Boston for a conference. He gripped his brother tighter, realizing now just how lonely and isolated Lydia had kept him.

"It's alright honey. She can't do it anymore. You're here with us now, and we won't be lettin' it happen again."

Dean sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Thanks, Mama." He drew back from his brother, who wisely didn't say anything. "It's good to see you too, Sammy."

Sam brightened. "Did I hear something about mac and cheese? Is it time to stir in the cheese?"

Missouri swatted him away from the pot and out of the kitchen. "Out. I know what you're up to, and I'll not be having you eatin' up all the cheese before it makes it to the pot. Go set the table."

Sam ducked away from Missouri with a laugh and recruited the kids into helping him set the table. Jess came in the kitchen in his wake and rolled her eyes fondly as she leaned against the bar. "It's going to be bad enough that he's going to stuff himself with as much as he can eat before we go to the hotel."

"He'll wait for the littles to get their fill if he knows what's good for him," Missouri muttered under her breath as she transfers the last of the chicken to the paper towel-lined plate. Dean laughed and made sure that the milk and cheese were properly distributed in the macaroni. Jess made grabby hands at him when he was done stirring, so he handed the pot over to her for her to carry out to the table. Missouri followed with the chicken, and Dean grabbed the massive bowl of salad and the dressing bottles.

Dinner was rowdy and exactly what Dean needed to take his mind off of his new job. They sat up late entertaining the kids with stories of their escapades from when they were kids and first came to live with Missouri. Emma and Jack were in stitches and Jess was more than happy to learn more about her husband from Dean's viewpoint. Eventually, the kids started nodding off, so Sam took Jack to his bed and Dean followed Emma to tuck her in.

"It was awesome to get to see Uncle Sam again," she said through her yawns. She flopped on her bed before wiggling her way under the blankets until just her head and neck were left out.

"Yeah it is, ain't it? Been too long." He sat down on the bed next to her. "Arms in or out?"

"In."

"Alright." He set about tucking the blankets tight around her until she couldn't move. "Sung as a bug in a rug. You're outta luck if your nose itches though. All good? Not too tight?"

She shook her head with a sleepy grin.

He pokes her nose. "My little burrito baby. Just don't let Sam see you, he'll eat you up and then he'll have the worst gas ever."

"Oh my god, it was one time, Dean," Sam said as he came into Emma's room. "Don't listen to him, that burrito was lava pretending to be beans." He leaned over and kissed Emma on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow, OK squirt?"

"'Kay," Emma murmured, already well on her way to sleep. The brothers crept out of the room, Dean making sure the door was cracked in case she needed to find him.

Sam patted his shoulder. "Man, I never thought I'd get to see this. You are great with her."

Dean waved him off as they made their way downstairs again. "She's a dream most of the time, to be honest. Much easier than taking care of your angsty ass." Dean ducked the swat Sam aimed at his head, chuckling. "Kidding. For real though, she's a great kid. Doesn't deserve what Lydia is putting her through."

"Yeah, Charlie told me about that. Emailed me a copy of everything to make sure it didn't ping anything outside family law, you know?"

"I appreciate you lookin' at em," Dean said as he filled a glass of water. "I think I'm going to turn in, and Jess looks like she's about ready to do the same. See you tomorrow?"

"You know it." Sam hugged Dean again. "It really is good to have you back here," he murmured into his shoulder.

"I'm glad I'm back." Dean drew out of the hug and slapped Sam's shoulder. "We'll talk more tomorrow. Get that wife of yours to a bed she can actually stretch out on."

"Yeah, yeah. Night Jerk."

Dean covered another yawn as he waved good-night to his brother. "Night Bitch."

Saturday afternoon turned into a grill-a-thon with Missouri handing him more and more things to toss on the grill until Dean finally pulled his phone out and shot Cas a text to come and help them eat the ridiculous amount of food. He'd agreed, showing up about ten minutes after Dean sent the text and thankfully, Missouri stopped giving him food, a smirk on her face.

After greetings all around, Cas sat and caught up with Sam. It hadn't been as long since they had last seen each other, but seeing his childhood best friend sitting with his family made Dean's heart flip flop in his chest. Dean bit his lip and looked back down at the grill. He's not even divorced yet for Christ's sake and he's already thinking about jumping into another relationship.

Missouri walked behind him and smacked him on the back of his head, snapping him out of his thoughts. He glared at her as she walked off. Her only response was to wave at him over her shoulder.

"Penny for your thoughts?" a warm voice asked from his right.

"Oh, pretty sure they aren't worth that much." He shifted his focus back to the food on the grill. "Just reflecting on family. You know how it is."

Cas hummed beside him, arms crossed over his chest. He looked over the backyard and took in Jack and Emma playing tag with the neighbor's dog, Sam and Jess sitting under a tree, heads together, and Missouri bustling around the vegetable plots. "It's not a bad family you have here, Dean."

"No, it's not," Dean agreed, taking Cas in as he surveyed the people in the backyard. "Pretty damn lucky," he says quietly.

They made quick work of cooking up the hamburger patties for everyone once there was space cleared on the grill, and Dean grinned as everyone jostled for a good spot at the picnic table.

"Chill out you heathens," he said as he brings the last plate over. "All right, go for it." Everyone dove for the food at once and Dean danced back out of range. He swept back over to the grill and grabbed two more plates, these with burgers already made up, and deposited them in front of the kids. They looked up at him gratefully and dug in. Dean ruffled Emma's hair and smiled down at her.

Once the press of people settled down, he wound his way around the stragglers and made up his own plate with a hamburger, corn, asparagus, and squash. As he sat down next to Cas, he caught sight of his brother looking at him strangely.

"What?"

Sam blinked a few times before he shook himself out of his stupor. "Dude, since when do you eat vegetables?"

Dean rolled his eyes and took a big bite of his burger. As he chews, he points down at his daughter. Sam followed his finger and understanding dawned on his face and blissfully, went back to devouring his own food.

Cas chuckled next to him. Dean raised an eyebrow at him and Cas, the little shit, said, "Can you blame him for wondering? You used to be adamantly against any form of _rabbit food_ when we were kids."

Dean growled and flipped them both off.

Saturday night ended up being a repeat of Friday, just in the back yard and with the addition of Castiel and Charlie. She and Sam had put their heads together over Dean's divorce papers, but Charlie was quick to assure him they were still on track from what they had discussed before.

Sunday, Dean got up early and snuck downstairs to make breakfast. He gathered the eggs, milk, butter, cheese, assorted fresh veggies, and bacon from the fridge and set up to start chopping ingredients for the best omelet bar there ever was. The house's occupants wandered down one at a time with Sam and Jess showing up shortly after, and Dean let them decide on the ingredients regardless of his personal feelings on the combinations (spinach and onions? Gross). Once everyone was fed, Sam and Jess pack up and leave and the rest of the house goes back to their normal Sunday routine.

Monday started as a brand new, not-so-exciting day. Dean got himself up with the kids, made breakfast (cereal) and saw them off at the same time he headed for the store. Garth was (again) relentless in his cheerfulness, to the point where Dean started to suspect drugs. He did a good job of showing Dean the ropes throughout the day, however, so Dean did his best to keep his eye rolls to himself.

Tuesday he went with Ash for delivery and set up. He and the moving company owner are shown where to take the bed frame, and they take about thirty minutes to put it together and get the mattresses set up. They shook hands with the homeowner and Ash dropped him off back at the store, the rest of Tuesday crawling by.

Dean settled into a rhythm over the first week with the store. He educated himself on the items in stock, ensured he was pulling and entering orders correctly, the works. He did his best to make sure he was the best furniture store employee that he could be.

Or, at least he thought he did.

The first complaint came in a little over a week after he'd started. Garth took the call then called Dean over so he could take him aside and they could talk.

"Dean, I just got off the phone with Miss Cortese. She said that you harassed her while setting up her bed frame?"

Dean could only blink at Garth, mouth hanging open. Garth blinked back.

"Now, I don't believe her, to be honest, and I'm guessing by your reaction this accusation is untrue?"

Dean snapped his mouth shut and nodded. "Ask Ash. He and I put that frame together and he never left my side. We even went an extra step and put the mattresses on the frame, which I know we don't have to do."

Garth nodded, tapping a finger to his chin. "All right. Thank you, Dean, for telling me. From here out, I'm going to make sure that you are never out on an install alone so this can't happen again, OK?" Dean nodded and Garth smiled. "Okiedokie, now that we've got that nasty business out of the way, show me what you got!" and led him over to the computer where they pull their online sales for fulfillment.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> E rating is earned at the end of the chapter.

Dean's world imploded on a Wednesday.

Over the past few weeks, Dean'd tried to talk with Emma about school, just to have her brush him off. He knew from Ellen that the kid hadn't let up on Emma at school, but every time he brought it up with his daughter, she just shrugged and changed the subject. Dean got desperate enough to ask Jack, but he didn't know much beyond what Ellen did. All he had to say about it was "Ben don't like her and he's a mean bully. He don't like me neither ‘cause I live with Missouri."

Dean was simultaneously perplexed and pissed. He really needed to figure out who this Ben kid was and have a long talk with his parents.

He happened to have the Wednesday in question off since he was pulling a shift on Saturday, so he was in the yard building more raised beds when the kids got home from school. They came running through the yards like the hounds of hell were on their heels, Emma with a look of fierce pride on her face and Jack a look of pure fear on his. He raised his eyebrow at the spectacle and Jack broke off to run up to Dean.

"Ben's a bully, but Emma just knocked him on his ass!" he told his uncle proudly.

Dean blinked a few times at Jack, scrabbling for understanding. As his brain was trying to catch up, a gaggle of kids stumbled into the back yard and Jack scuttled behind him to hide. Dean focused on the clear ringleader, a boy of about twelve with a bloody nose.

"What the hell is this?" Dean roared as he stood up. Jack stayed behind Dean's legs and peeked around them to take in the startled group. Dean looked down at Jack. "Let me guess, this is Ben?" Jack nodded and Dean grinned. "Jack, go get Mama." Jack scuttled off and Dean crossed the yard swiftly and caught the bully up by the front of his shirt, scattering the rest of the kids back where they came from. He hauled the scared-looking child up to the back porch and sat him down in one of the chairs. "Stay there. Do not get up."

Missouri came out on the porch with Dean's phone in hand and a bowl of water with a rag floating in it. "Call his mama to come and pick him up. I'll clean up his nose." She handed him his phone and he looked down to see Lisa's name on the screen.

Dean looked up to the sky, asking for strength. Of course Ben was her son. He stabbed the call button.

"Dean? How can I help you?"

Dean flicked his gaze over to her son, currently getting his face wiped down by Missouri. "Well, for starters you can come by and get your son. While you are here, you can explain to me why he's been bullying my daughter." He stabbed the end button before she could respond and sat down in a chair opposite Ben. He propped his elbows on the arms and steepled his fingers in front of his face, pinning the child to the chair with a look.

Lisa stepped outside twenty minutes later, followed by Missouri and Emma. Emma spared a glance at Ben before jumping into Dean's lap, burying her face in his collarbone. He kept his gaze on Ben as he smoothed his hand down her back, murmuring that she would be OK. He transferred his gaze to Lisa, who paled under his glare.

"Sit. Explain."

Lisa sat. She glared at her son for a second, then her shoulders dropped. "I can't explain. I had no idea."

Ben snorted. Dean flicked his glare to him again and he paled, looking down at his hands.

Lisa cleared her throat. "I can only apologize. I guess my animosity toward you shaped his feelings toward your family. I had no idea he's been bullying your children." She looked guiltily at Missouri and Dean.

"Twelve years," Dean said. "It's been twelve years since we broke up Lisa. We didn't even go out that long. You've been married, divorced, and have a good job."

"Child," Missouri broke in. "Why have you held on to this poison for so long?"

A look of rage passed over Lisa's face. "Why?" She stood up, rounding on Missouri. "You're psychic, you tell me!" She stalked up to Missouri, who stood her ground in the face of the taller woman. "He was supposed to be my ticket out of here! We were supposed to be together forever! And then he just dumped me like trash, let his new girlfriend treat me like trash around town. And then? Then he left. Left me in the dust."

Dean stood up, Emma clutched to him like a koala. "What do you mean, 'let my girlfriend treat you like trash'?" Dean was angry now; this was the second time he'd heard after the fact that someone had been treated badly by Lydia.

Lisa spun on him and scoffed. "Like you don't know."

Dean clenched his jaw. "Considering this is the first I've heard of it? No, I didn't know. I would have put a stop to it."

Lisa's mouth sagged open. "Oh my god, you really didn't know." She snapped her jaw shut and put a hand over her mouth. "All these years I thought -"

Dean shook his head. "Doesn't matter what you thought. You knew damn well you could come to me and say something and you didn't. You nursed a grudge for over a decade, poisoned your son against my family." Dean shook his head and backed away from Lisa's advance, holding his daughter tighter to him. "You need to leave. And if I find out Ben keeps up with his shit? I'll do my best to bury you. You need to fix this." He turned away from a spluttering Lisa and red-faced Ben to usher his family back into the house, locking the door. Lisa and Ben could just make their way around the side of the house to leave. He gathered Missouri and Jack to him and hugged them tightly. "I'm so sorry Mama," he murmured into her hair.

"Honey, this isn't your fault. But it does explain a lot of things." She drew back and patted his cheek. "You need to call Charlie, tell her what you've found out. Jack and I will go make dinner." She picked Jack up and retreated to the kitchen. Emma continued to cling to her father, so he hugged her and they made their way to his bedroom.

"Alright kiddo. You and me need to talk," Dean said, sitting down on his bed.

Emma sniffled and hid her face in his shirt. "Am I in trouble?"

"Only a little, and not for what you are thinking," Dean said into her hair. "Baby, why didn't you tell me what was going on?"

"I don't know."

Dean sighed and drew Emma out of his shirt so they could look each other in the eye. "Emma, sweetheart, what's this about? You never used to hide things from me before."

Emma's chin wobbled. "I just don't want to give you any reason to leave me like Mom did."

Rage flashed through Dean as he pulled her back into his chest. "Never, sweetheart. I'm _never_ going to leave you."

Saturday after Dean got off of work, Cas dropped by and bullied Dean into leaving the house for 'fun'. Cas pushed Dean along the front walk, waving to Missouri as they went. Dean grumbled as he climbed into the truck, but let up as Cas pulled away.

"Seriously man, where we going?" Dean asked.

"You'll see."

They were silent until the lake came into view, and a grin spread across Dean's face. He whipped around to look at Cas. "Dude, we're going fishing?!"

Cas' lips twitched and he looked over at Dean. "What gave you that idea?"

He parked the truck in a secluded spot next to the water and Dean jumped out of the cab. Cas grinned and grabbed two poles, a tackle box, and a cooler out of the back of the truck. "Grab the minnow bucket, will you?"

Dean did so and followed Cas down to the water to see a fishing boat tethered to a tree. Cas loaded it up with everything and helped Dean get in without tipping it over. He untied the boat, shoved them off, and jumped in as they floated away from the shore.

"Dude, it's been forever since I've gone fishing. This is awesome," Dean said as he made sure the minnow bucket was securely tied to the boat but submerged in the water. They sat quietly for a while, the sound of the water lapping against the boat as their soundtrack.

"Did you know that you were my first kiss?"

Dean startled. "I didn't know that." He sat up and looked over his shoulder. "You were my first guy kiss."

A blush stole across Cas' cheeks. "I kinda thought I was," he said.

"What gave it away?"

Cas chuckled as he reeled his line in. "Your face, for one."

Dean scoffed and looked away. "Yeah well, your… face…" He went silent, listening to the sounds of the lake. "Cas, how come you didn't tell me about Lydia?"

Cas shrugged, making the boat list a little. "Would you have listened?"

Dean thought seriously about his question. Would he have listened? "I don't know, man. I would like to think I would have? I just… I found out this week you weren't the only one she went after when we were kids, you know?"

"Oh? Did Lisa finally talk to you?"

"Sorta. Ben tried to start a fight that Emma finished." Dean squinted at his line; had his bobber moved? "Then the little cretin followed her and Jack back to the house and I cornered him and called her to come and get him. It came out when we confronted her about Ben being a little ass to Jack and Emma."

Cas' lips thinned. "I'm sorry, Dean. I had no idea."

"Yeah, she didn't either as it turned out. But damn Cas, the shit that she spewed," Dean sighed. "She hates me. And I didn't even know why until twelve years later. What the hell did Lydia say to convince you guys I would ever condone that behavior out of her?"

"We weren't the only ones, Dean. She poisoned the whole senior body against you, in one way or another."

Dean thinks back to his senior year and grimaces. "That explains a lot, actually."

They lapsed into silence again, checking their lines as the bobbers moved around. He'd missed this, the quiet and content of sitting with his best friend. "Cas?"

"Yes, Dean?"

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for but… You are forgiven."

Dean parked Baby and turned to take in the decorated barn as he got out of the car. Mr. and Mrs. Whitehead's anniversary was tonight and the entire town had turned out for the event. He looked around and noted all of the people who were laughing as they made their way inside, the strings of lights above them casting a warm glow over everything. He grinned at the sight of children running through the adults and inside.

He leaned over and checked his hat in the side view mirror of the Impala. He'd dressed tonight in a maroon button-down, his nicest jeans, a pair of boots, and a white cowboy hat he hadn't worn in, well. Twelve years.

He tipped his hat to his reflection and straightened. Missouri had left an hour earlier than he did with the kids, so he made his way inside to look for them. Jack was dressed the same way he was, just in a white shirt, and Emma was in a sundress with her hair done up in ribbons. She also had a white cowboy hat and she looked adorable. When he stepped inside of the barn, he grinned at the decorations. They'd done it up like an old hoedown, and there were lights strung between the beams and white tulle wrapping the supports. There was hay scattered everywhere, and a cover band was up on a raised platform playing Brooks and Dunn's "Brand New Man". The air was thick and he drew a breath in, tasting the hay and old wood on his tongue.

"Daddy!"

He opened his eyes in time to see Emma throw herself at him, a grin splitting her face. He caught her in his arms and twirled her around until she lost her hat and she shrieked with glee. Jack came up beside him as they finished their spin and handed Dean back her hat with a grin.

"Well aren't you two a fine lookin' pair," he said. "Where's Mama?"

Emma twisted around and pointed toward the bar. "Over there!"

They made their way through the crowd, Jack leading the way. He dropped a kiss on Missouri's head and waved to Bobby. He let Emma down and she and Jack ran off to play with some of the other kids in attendance. Dean watched her go with a smile on his face.

"Boy, you are something else when you look at that girl of yours," Bobby said. "Never thought I'd get to see the day."

"She's my world Bobby."

"That's clear to see, Dean," Ellen said as she slid up next to them. Dean grinned wider and caught her up in a hug. As he drew back, he caught sight of Jo behind her and grabbed her up next.

"Joanna Beth. Damn girl, it's good to see you."

She socked him on the arm as she drew away, a smile on her face. "That's for not coming around for the last decade." She flipped the brim of his hat. "It's good to see you. Your daughter is a dream in class."

They fell into talking about Emma and her performance at school. Eventually, they drifted away from each other, and Dean tried to do his best to catch up with people from his past that he couldn't really remember. At one point a very pregnant Sue accosted him and said hello and a cheeky Billy asked Missouri to dance. Dean grinned at the two of them on the dance floor.

"Hello, Dean."

Dean tipped his head back to see Cas standing just behind him with a grin on his face. "Well fancy seeing you here, Cas. Wanna sit?"

Cas took the offered seat and tipped his hat Dean's way. "Good turn out."

Dean snorted. "Dude, Mr. and Mrs. Whitehead were old when we were kids. Everyone knows them, so I'd hope it would be a good turn out." He waved at Emma as she ran by, a dirty Jack chasing her. "This town loves a reason to party, you know that."

Cas nodded, grinning at Jack's attempt to two-step. "Indeed." He side-eyed Dean as the music changed over from the cover band to a DJ playing 90's country songs. "Dean, will you dance with me?"

Dean blushed. "Aw Cas, I don't- I don't dance anymore."

Cas stood up and held a hand out to Dean. "Dancin's just a conversation between two people, Dean. Come on."

Dean sighed and took Cas' hand and let him pull him out of his chair. They made their way to the dance floor silently, and Cas took the lead.

_When the rain is blowing in your face / And the whole world is on your case / I could offer you a warm embrace / To make you feel my love_

Cheek to cheek they swayed together to the old Garth Brooks song, and Dean felt himself melt into Cas' embrace. He felt the weight of a crappy retail job, his shitty reality of being cheated on and soon to be divorced, his daughter being the focus of a town bully all float away with the twangs of the guitar. The notes of the piano floated through his head and he sighed into Cas' shoulder.

Everything dropped away.

"I've missed this," Dean murmured into Cas' ear. "Missed you." He felt Cas’s hand on his hip tighten in response. "It hurt, all those years ago when you pulled away, and I didn't know why. You were my best friend and then… nothing." He tightened his grip on Cas’s hand.

"I'm sorry Dean. If I could go back and change it, I would."

Dean shook his head. "No, if you did that then I wouldn't have Emma. We're here now, let’s just make the best of it from here out."

They lapsed into silence again and stayed that way as the song finished. They broke apart with small smiles, and Dean rubbed his thumb over the bolt of Cas' jaw.

"Let me say good night to the kiddos. I know that Missouri was going to be wanting to leave around this time."

Cas nodded and they separated, Cas heading to the bar and Dean to find his daughter.

"All right, it's just up here."

"Cas I know where you live."

"Hush, let me do this."

Dean chuckled as they made their way up the walk to the front of Cas' house. Considering Cas still lived in the same place he had when they were kids, Dean was pretty sure he knew the area like the back of his hand, but he played along for Cas' sake. The porch light was turned off, though, so Dean did have to pay attention so that he didn't face plant into the steps.

Cas stopped in front of the door and fidgeted. "Just - be gentle, OK? It's still a work in progress."

"Cas what -" Dean cut himself off when Cas flipped on the lights of the front room. He followed his friend out of the front hallway in a daze.

"A few years ago, Mom and Dad left. They decided they didn't like it down here where it was hot as hell and the mosquitoes were big enough to carry them off. So they left the house to me, with one condition. I had to update it."

Dean nodded to show he was listening as he took in the living room. The outside of the house looked the same in the dark, but here, _nothing_ looked the same.

The house now opened up into a huge room where the living room, dining room, and kitchen all flowed into each other. The wall along the back of the house was a dusky blue with white trim. It drew his eye right into the kitchen, where the cabinets were white with glass fronts. The appliances were all stainless steel and the tile that ran under the cabinets was a vertical mosaic tile that reflected the light in a soft rainbow.

"Cas," Dean breathed. "Cas man, this - wow. Who's your architect?"

Cas grinned. "You kidding? That was half the fun." He ran his hand over the bar. "Taught myself. Gutted everything and started from the studs."

"Cas, man. You're going around Smithville just doing yard work and you can do this?" Dean looked around. "Man, you could be making a killing."

Cas shrugged. "Would you want to 'make a killing' with your furniture?"

Dean opened his mouth to make a retort but snapped it shut again. "OK, good point." He drew in a deep breath. "Is that Texas pine?"

"Yep. Local sourced. Do you want to see the porch?"

Dean nodded.

"It's a wrap around all the way around the house," Cas said as he led Dean outside. "It's all covered too, so no matter what the weather, you can be out here and not worry about getting rained on or frying in the sun. The lake is that way, and you'll be able to see right to it when I get done clearing- mfph."

Dean cut him off with a frenzied kiss. Cas sighed softly through his nose and buried his hands in the hair on the back of Dean's head, using his hold to angle him so he could lick into his mouth. Dean whined in the back of his throat, and Cas broke off the kiss with a grin and rubbed their noses together.

"Come on, come upstairs," Cas said.

Dean grinned in a daze. "You sure do work quick."

Cas retaliated by pinching his ass, making Dean laugh. He ducked his head down to steal another toe-curling kiss. He let Cas back him up towards the door as they kissed and grinned when his back encountered the wall next to the door. Cas spun them around and pushed him through the door, closing and locking it behind them. He shoved Dean through the living room and up the steps and directed him to the correct bedroom, the two of them shedding clothing the entire way. They ended up in their boxers next to the bed, taking each other in until Dean reached out and shoved Cas back onto the bed.

He landed on the bed with a soft 'oof' and Dean crawled onto the bed until he hovered over Cas' body. He grinned down at him and ducked his head to Cas' neck, sucking a little mark into the soft skin over his pulse point. Cas gasped and buried a hand in Dean's hair, scratching his scalp softly.

Dean pulled away to look Cas in the eye. "Cas, is this OK?" At Cas' enthusiastic nod, Dean chuckled. "Sunshine, I need you to use your words."

"Yes!" Cas gasped out when Dean nibbled on Cas' nipple. "Yes please!"

"Do you have any condoms?"

Cas groaned. "Dammit, no I don't."

"That's OK, hon. Plenty of things we can do that we don't need ‘em for." He lowered his hips so that their erections brushed together, watching Cas' eyes shut and his mouth drop open. "I haven't been tested anyway, and with her cheating on me, there's no way I'm going to do anything that puts you at risk." He returned to his self assigned task of driving Castiel out of his mind and started nipping his way down the left side of Cas' body. He hovered over his nipple and pulled on it with his lips, causing tiny whimpers to escape Cas' mouth. He grinned and nipped at it and Cas' hand fisted in the hair on the top of Dean's head.

"Dean, stop teasing."

"Oh sunshine, I'm just getting started."

Cas dropped his head back down to his pillows. "Dear god you are going to be the death of me."

"Just a little one," Dean snarked back with a grin and bit into the skin over his bottom rib, making the muscles of his stomach twitch and Cas to lose his train of thought again. He continued down to the spur of Cas' hip, sucking little hickeys to the surface and leaving love bites all over his skin. He reached down to the waistband of his boxers and grabbed it in his teeth, pulling it back and letting it snap back against Cas' skin before nosing down into the crease of his groin. He paused here, drawing in a deep breath that smelled of _musk_ and _Cas_. He sucked Cas' balls into his mouth one at a time, drawing a groan from the man under him, and rolled them around until his boxers were soaked and he could taste the tang of Cas' skin.

"Dean," Cas whined, "Dean, please, come back up here. Please."

And how could Dean ignore such beautiful begging?

Dean surged back up Cas' body, letting him wrap his arms around his shoulders and draw him down into a kiss. Dean settled his body down onto Cas' and rolled his hips, making Cas break the kiss with a moan.

"Please Dean, I need - I need -"

"Shh. I got you." Dean laid his forehead on Cas' and rolled his hips again. Cas whined, high and thready, and Dean smiled softly down at him. "Like this?"

Cas nodded and stretched back up for another kiss. Dean obliged, but as he kept going, the kiss devolved into simply sharing air between the two of them. Dean ground down a little harder and watched as Cas' eyes dilated further and he knew that Cas was a goner.

" _Dean!_ " Cas dug his head back into the pillow and the sight of Cas lost to his pleasure, the feeling of warmth spreading under him as he came, threw Dean headlong into his own orgasm. He grunted as his body locked up and buried his face in the crook of Cas' shoulder, biting down to muffle the noise being ripped from his lungs.

They hovered there in the afterglow for a time, where nothing else existed in the world but the two of them. Cas petted down Dean's back as their breathing returned to normal and Dean pulled back, nosing along his jaw. He shifted over to the side so he could lay beside Castiel and drew him over on his side and they kissed lazily until Cas drew back and bopped Dean on the nose.

"Let's put a pause on this," he said. "As much as I'm enjoying this, I do _not_ enjoy dried cum in my pubic hair. Let's get up, take a shower. You can borrow a pair of boxers to sleep in."

Dean grinned and rolled out of the bed. He grimaced when the air rushed in and turned the spot on his boxers cold though, and hurried after Castiel to the bathroom where he stripped them off as quickly as possible. When Cas beckoned to him, he joined him in the shower and they cleaned each other up with wandering hands. They dried each other off, and Cas dug around for a pair of boxer briefs for Dean to wear. Once they were boxer-clad, they collapsed back into bed, and Cas drew the covers over them. Dean snuggled into Cas' side and threw a leg over Cas'.

Then they slept.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> E rating is also earned at the beginning of this chapter. *eyebrow waggle*

Dean snuffled and buried his face into the pillow as the world lightened. A warm body behind him tightened their grip around his waist and pulled him back into what felt like _very_ glorious morning wood. Dean grinned lazily as he wiggled into Cas' erection and the man behind him retaliated by sinking his teeth into the back of Dean's neck.

"Dean," and oh god Cas' voice was three octaves lower than normal, "stop wiggling around or we'll be right back where we were last night."

"What, sticky and in need of a shower?"

"Yes," Cas growled into his shoulder blade as he ground his dick against Dean's ass.

"Then you best get on with it sunshine," Dean smirked as Cas bit him again, this time into his shoulder. Cas brought his hand up to Dean's face and he licked it, knowing what Cas was after. He gasped at the tweak of his nipple and felt Cas smirk behind him.

"We'll explore that later," he promised before he dipped his hand into Dean's borrowed boxers. His hand wrapped around Dean's cock, and he groaned at the warmth. Cas shuffled behind him and eventually got an arm under Dean's head, hand gripping his hair and a leg thrown over Dean's. His dick was a hot line nestled along the seam of Dean's ass cheeks.

Dean felt surrounded by Cas, and he loved it.

Cas started thrusting against him, using the leg thrown over his as extra leverage. Sparks tingled along Dean's skin as he matched his strokes on Dean to the rhythm of his hips, and all he could do was hang on for the ride.

It didn't take long for Cas to groan into his shoulder blade and come, limbs and grip going lax. Dean took the opportunity to spin around to face him, pushing him onto his back so he could straddle his legs. He shoved his boxers down far enough so he could strip himself quickly until he came on Cas' boxers, right over the wet spot. He slumped down, panting.

"Well," Cas said. "At least one pair managed to escape unscathed."

Dean snorted a laugh. "So not sorry." He swung a leg over so he wasn't pinning Cas down anymore and kissed his forehead. "Go shower again, and I'll go start the coffee and breakfast."

"Deal," Cas said, pushing himself up. "Coffee is in the cabinet over the machine. Sugar is over the stove."

"Got it." Dean ducked down and pulled on his jeans, and snaked a hand out to catch Cas by the wrist as he walked by. He drew him into a soft kiss and nosed along his cheek. "Good morning, sunshine."

Cas grinned. "Good morning, Dean." He kissed his cheek before pulling away, disappearing into the bathroom.

Dean jogged down the stairs and surveyed Cas' kitchen. He started a pot of coffee first, then pulled eggs and bacon out of the fridge. He got the bacon going first then scrambled eggs for the two of them. He was plating everything as Cas came downstairs, hair still wet from his shower and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

"Mm, smells good in here," he said as he accepted the mug of coffee from Dean. "Thank you." He added two spoons of sugar and enough milk to make it a funny tan color and closed his eyes in bliss at his first sip. They exchanged small talk as they ate and Cas waved Dean off from doing the dishes.

"Alright, I need to get down to the store. Shift starts in thirty, and I gotta make the money so that maybe one day I can move out of my mama's house." Dean leaned down and kissed Cas softly. "I'll see you later, sunshine."

Dean whistled Aerosmith’s “Back in the Saddle” as he parked Baby behind the store. He made sure she was locked up and burst into the office, belting out the lyrics as he went. _"Come easy, go easy, all right until the rising sun, I'm calling all the shots tonight, I'm like a loaded gun, peelin' off my boots and chaps, I'm saddle sore."_ He danced his way through the office and over to Garth's desk, singing into an air mic until the two of them dissolved into laughter.

"Well it's good to see you laughing, Dean," Garth said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Although I'm pretty sure we should leave the Aerosmith to Tyler. His vocal range is better."

Dean shrugged. "No skin off my back. So what's on the agenda today?"

Garth pulled a clipboard over and flipped through it. "Got one delivery/install today, my man. Looks like we've got a new couch and recliner going to Miss Cortese's place."

Dean rolled his head back and stared at the ceiling. "Aw man, her again?" He rolled his head back to the front and eyed Garth. "At least tell me that Ash is going with me"

"Mm, not today. Looks like Luc is going to be your wingman today."

"Well shit. Fine. What time is he going to be here?"

"He should be here any minute, actually. Delivery is set up for after 9:30, so that gives ya'll plenty of time to get it all loaded up and out to her house."

Dean rolled his shoulders and shook out his arms. "Alright, I'll get around to the side, get the door pulled up so he can back in. I'll check in with you when I get back, alright?"

"Sounds good Deano." Garth went back to his paperwork and gave Dean a distracted wave.

Dean made sure that the couch and recliner were wrapped up correctly and jogged over to the rolling door, pulling it up just as Luc pulled in with the moving truck. They waved at each other and Luc swung the truck around to back into the warehouse.

They made quick work of loading the two pieces of furniture and headed toward 201 Gail Street. Miss Cortese "call me Ruby,” asked them to move the old furniture out of the living room and to the front yard and, even though it wasn't part of the contract, the two men agreed to haul out the old so they could get the new inside. They finished up quickly, never leaving the other alone with her, and waved goodbye to her as they pulled out of the driveway.

The rest of the workday was spent checking inventory and pulling online orders, which Dean was able to complete quickly. As soon as noon rolled around, he waved goodbye to Garth and shot out to his car, eager to get home.

"'Bout time you got home, boy," Missouri called from the kitchen as he stepped in the front door.

"Hey, Mama." He walked into the kitchen and dropped a kiss on her offered cheek. "Sorry about last night."

"No you ain't sugar, and that's just fine," she said with a twinkle in her eye as she looked over her shoulder at him. "Go on up and talk to Emma. Call Charlie too, she called here last night lookin' for you."

"All right Mama. I'll see you a little later."

"Yes, you will. Oh! Cas'll be by for dinner tonight. I'm makin' gumbo and you know I always go overboard."

"Alright!" Dean ran up the stairs and slid into his daughter's bedroom, startling a shriek out of her.

"Daddy!" She ran up to him and threw her arms around his waist. "Did you have fun at your sleepover last night?"

Dean choked on a laugh. "Yea, I did sweetheart. Does it bother you that I spent the night with Cas?"

She ran over to her bed and jumped on it. "Nope. He makes you smile real big and your heart happy. I like him."

Dean beamed. "That's awesome. Can I tell you a secret?"

Emma nodded, and Dean sat down on the bed next to her and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"I'm really glad you like him, cause I like him too. Like, a whole lot."

Emma grinned wide. "Like a whole whole lot?"

Dean nodded.

Emma pretended to think for a few seconds, and a smirk spread across her face. "Well, I guess since Mom doesn't want us anymore, we _do_ need to find someone else to fit into that hole." She grabbed her stuffed bunny and held it to her chest, suddenly shy. "Do you think he likes me too?"

Dean pulled her into his lap. "I know so. Now, you and me need to talk, cause I want to know all about Friday at school and what you and Jack and Missouri got up to last night after you left the barn dance."

Dean fidgeted with his hair, trying to make sure that it was in place. It's been a long time since he wanted to look good for someone, and he's not sure he remembers how this whole dating thing works.

"DAD!" Emma yelled up the stairs. "Mama Missouri says to stop fiddling with your hair and get your cute butt down here! How does she even know you are messin' with your hair anyway?"

Dean snickered to himself and turned away from the mirror. He hurried down the stairs and scooped his daughter up, tickling her sides and causing her to screech in delight. "I told you, Mama's a psychic, she knows everything!" He hoisted her up onto his shoulder and spun her around in a circle until she begged for him to stop and Jack asked for a turn.

Dean kept the kids entertained for a few more minutes until the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" the kids yelled in tandem and took off to throw the door open.

Lydia was standing on the front porch.

Emma took a step back and pulled Jack behind her. "Mom? What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to greet your mother?" she sniffed. She let herself in as Dean rounded the corner out of the living room. "Dean. Glad to see you haven't changed."

"Lydia, what are you doing here?"

"Can't a mother come and visit her daughter?" Lydia asked as she looked around the house. "Mm, looks like you aren't the only thing that hasn't changed."

"Lydia Canning, you will keep a civil tongue in this house or you will be asked to leave," Missouri said as she walked out of the kitchen. She finished drying her hands and slung the towel over her shoulder. "What brings you here to our house unannounced?"

"I'm still Lydia Winchester, at least until your son," she flicked her gaze over to Dean, "signs the divorce papers and gives them back to me. Until those are final, you will address me as such."

Dean waved Emma and Jack over to him. "You two go upstairs until me or Mama come and get you." They nodded and rushed upstairs and Dean stood up and squared his shoulders. "The paperwork is still with my lawyer, Lydia. I told you that we'd file them as soon as we got everything looked over."

Lydia tossed her hair over her shoulder and glared at him. "Well I figured they would have been filed by now, but no. A moving company with a very unpleasant man showed up at the house a few days ago and cleared everything of yours and Emma's out, including everything in the shop. Do you know anything about that?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Dean said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Charlie hired them for me so that my belongings wouldn't be left behind. I gave her a detailed list of things to get, and everything in that shop was mine."

"Oh, Dean. None of the things in that shop were purchased with money you made on your own. None of that belongs to you."

The screen door banged shut as Cas stepped in. He looked at the other people in the foyer and raised his eyebrows. "Is everything OK?"

Dean nodded tightly. "Yeah Cas. This is Lydia, I'm sure you remember her?"

Cas eyed Lydia as he made his way past her and over to Dean's side. "Unfortunately. Good evening, Lydia. I'd say it's a pleasure to see you, but my mother always told me not to lie."

Lydia sneered at the two men. "Oh look, the loser best friend. So glad you listened to me back in high school, by the way. It made it so much easier to break away from this hick town and go up north."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Well, I think this conversation is now officially over. You can leave and I'll contact my lawyer tomorrow. All future communication you wish to have with me can be done through her." He grabbed a scrap piece of paper off the mantle and scribbled out Charlie's name and office number and handed it over. Lydia snatched it out of his hand and shoved it in her purse.

"This isn't over, Dean. You stole from me, and I will have those items returned to me."

"My son told you it was time to go, Miss Canning. Now leave before I call Sheriff Mills out here for trespassing."

Lydia scoffed and whirled around, slamming the screen door open. The slamming of the door cut the strings holding Dean up and he sagged against Cas.

"Well, that sucked."

"Indeed."

Dean threw a thumb over his shoulder. "I'm gonna go check on the kids. That's not something they should've had to put up with." Cas nodded and Dean ran up the stairs.

Jack and Emma were huddled under the covers in her bed when he cracked the door open to Emma's room.

"Hey guys, you OK?"

They poked their heads out from under the blanket, and two pairs of eyes blinked owlishly at him. "Is she gone?" Emma asked.

"Yup." Dean sat down on the bed next to them, and a child burrowed under each arm. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"It's OK," Jack said.

"No, it's not. Adults shouldn't be airing their dirty laundry in front of the kids, and Lydia was determined to do so. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

The door creaked open and Cas poked his head in. "Can I come in?"

Three heads nodded at him and he padded over to the bed, sitting down next to Jack. "Are you guys OK?"

Jack crawled into Cas' lap and buried his face in his shirt. "Yeah," came the muffled answer. "We're OK. Glad the scary lady is gone, though."

Cas ran his hand up and down Jack's back and Dean felt his heart swell with affection. "Yeah. Well, Missouri has dinner ready, you guys want to eat?"

The kids climbed out of bed and ran downstairs and Dean and Cas trailed after them. Cas caught Dean's wrist outside of the dining room. "Are you OK Dean?"

Dean sighed. "Yeah. Just… disappointed? I dunno." He ran a hand down his face. "You up for hitting the Roadhouse tonight? I need to get out of here for a while."

Cas nodded. "Mind if I call Charlie? She needs to know what happened here, anyway, and you can kill two birds with one stone."

Dean rolled his eyes but nodded his agreement. "You and Missouri with your sayings that don't make sense," he grumbled as he walked away to let Missouri know where they were going.

Dean waved at Ellen as he and Cas entered the bar. Ellen waved back before she slung her towel over her shoulder and made her way to them.

"Heya boys. Your booth is still reserved, go ahead and head on over. Y'all hungry?" They nodded at her and she hummed. "The usual for both of you?"

"Yes please, and a pitcher of beer. It's been a rough night."

Ellen rubbed Dean's arm. "I heard. Already ran her out of here and your mama called and let me know you were heading this way. I'll get your dinners ready and have Jo bring you a pitcher of house draft."

Dean leaned over and bussed a kiss on Ellen's cheek. "Thanks, Aunt Ellen."

Ellen swatted at them and they made their way through the bar to the table with the 'Reserved' sign on it. This table was for family only, and no one could sit here unless Ellen had given them the go-ahead. They settled in and Dean moved the sign to the side.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Cas."

"Dean, you had nothing to do with her deciding to come down here and try to throw her weight around. I'm proud of how you handled it," Castiel replied as he took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair, fluffing it up. "To be honest, I'm surprised it took her this long to come down here and try something."

"Well," Dean mused, "I haven't really given her a reason to until now. I've let her talk to Emma any time she asks and gave her no reason to think I would be fighting any of the paperwork."

"Hey boys," Jo said as she sat two glasses and a pitcher of beer in front of them. She backhanded Dean in the shoulder. "Dean, you had best stand up and give me a hug."

Dean grinned as he scooted out of the booth. "Yes ma'am," he murmured as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

"Not that I'm complaining about seeing you again so soon, but what are you doing here on a Saturday night?" she asked as he pulled away and sat down.

"Just needed to get out of the house for a bit." Dean fiddled with his glass until Cas took pity on him and poured. "Look, Jo, I need you to know that if Emma's mom comes to the school for any reason, she is not to pull her out and take her anywhere."

Jo narrowed her eyes at him, but let it go with a nod. "You need to get down to the school and sign some paperwork since I know you two are still married, but you have my word, Dean. That harpy won't be hurting any of my family again if I have anything to say about it." Jo looked over her shoulder at a shout and rolled her eyes. "I gotta get back to work, but you two just flag me or Mom down if you need something, you hear?"

Dean and Cas nodded in understanding and she waltzed away to where the shouting was coming from. They looked at each other and Dean grinned.

"She's still scary as fuck. Actually, I think she's scarier now than she was when we were kids."

Cas raised an eyebrow. "I've seen her shoot. I _know_ she's scarier now than when we were kids." He took a drink of his beer and hummed. "Are you working tomorrow?"

"Nope," he said, popping the p. "The shop is closed on Sundays."

"Good." Cas twisted around and signaled to Ash to come over to the table. When he got there, Cas asked for a bottle of Jack and two shot glasses.

Ash eyed them. "Bad day?"

"You have no idea."

Ash chewed his lip for a second before he stuck out his hand. "Keys and you can have the bottle. If I don't take them now Ellen'll skin me alive."

Dean groaned but dug his keys out of his pocket. "Fine." He dropped them into Ash's waiting hand and the bartender tipped an invisible hat at them.

"Be right back with your friend Jack," he said as he spun around and headed back to the bar. Dean watched as he hung his keys on a hook and grabbed them a new bottle and a pair of shot glasses and brought them back. "If you two get rowdy I'm cutting you off, you hear?"

Dean cracked the bottle open and lifted a shot in a salute to the bartender. "You got it, man," he said before he downed the shot.

Cas took the bottle away after the first shot and glared at Dean when he grumbled. "Dean, we'll wait for our food to get here before we drink any more liquor."

"Good plan," Jo sniped as she dropped the plates of food off. "Y'all finish that and Mom said she has pie if you want it." She turned around and disappeared before either of them could thank her.

The night wore on and the bar started filling up around ten. Dean was slouched in his seat, well on his way to being blitzed, when he caught sight of Ruby Cortese entering the bar.

"Ugh," he said as he slid further down in the booth. "Don't look now but the she-devil is here."

Cas looked over his shoulder. "Where? Where is she and I'll give her a piece of my mind."

Dean kicked Cas in the shin. "Not that one, and stop looking around, you'll attract attention. Oh crap, here she comes." He fought against gravity to straighten in his seat as Ruby made her way over to them.

"Oh, Dean. So good to see you here," she said to them, contempt dripping off her in waves. "You do look like you belong in a bar, after all." She cut her eyes over to Castiel. "And you brought the town screw up with you."

Dean tried to parse out the insult but considering he was in a bar, and drunk to boot, he couldn't disagree with her statement. "Hey there Ruby. Need any more furniture delivered?"

Ruby rolled her eyes and walked off, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Dean looked back to Cas. "We should get that printed on t-shirts."

Cas tilted his head at Dean in question.

"You know," he said as he threw back the rest of his shot. "'Town screw-up'. We'll start a club. Non-screw ups need not apply." He snorted a laugh into his beer. "God knows I fit the bill."

"Dean you are-"

Dean cut him off. "Naw man, I know I am. Pretty sure the only thing I've done right my entire life was ta get Missouri to take us in. My dad didn't care enough about us to take care of us as kids. I didn't see the way Lydia treated my friends when we started dating. And you know what? Fuck her." Dean grabbed his shot glass and filled it again, throwing it back. "I dropped everything for her. Followed her across the fuckin' country, damn near raised our daughter on my own, put up with weeks of her being on the road, and for what? Nothing. Tossed aside like fuckin' trash. I can take it, I'm a goddamn adult, but to do that to your own daughter? What kind of person does that?" He slammed the glass down and the table rattled.

"Dean?"

Dean looked over to see a blurry Jo standing next to him. "Hey, Jo. My little sister." He reached out and patted her cheek. "I missed you guys so much."

Jo looked over at Cas. "How much has he had?" Cas showed her the bottle of Jack in response. She groaned. "Can you drive?"

Cas cleared his throat. "Yes. I stopped drinking a few hours ago when I realized what was going to happen."

Jo nodded and called Ash over with Dean's keys. "Alright big boy," she said as they hauled Dean out of the booth. "Time for you to go home and sleep it off."

Dean leaned on Jo and nosed her hair. "Your hair smells nice," he murmured.

"Oh dear God, don't ever let me get like that," Ruby snickered as they passed her little group on the way to the door. Dean jerked his head up and glared at her, but Jo patted his cheek.

"I got this, you just stand there," she said before whirling around and stalking toward Ruby.

"You know, I'd ask if you were a heartless bitch," she snarled as she crowded into Ruby's personal space, "but I already know the answer to that question. I don't know what your beef with Dean is, but it stops here, you got it?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Oh boo-hoo. Mister perfect over there got dumped and crawled his way back home and now he expects us to bend over and kiss his ass again? Nope, not doing it," she growled in Jo's face.

Jo reared back and punched her in the face.

"Aaaaand that's your cue to leave, amigos," Ash said as he and Cas dragged Dean out of the Roadhouse and over to the Impala. He waved at Sheriff Mills as she made her way into the bar. "I'll be right back in Sheriff, just pouring Dean into his ride." Cas got the passenger door open and they shoved Dean inside, making sure he was buckled in. Ash patted the top of the car twice and waved Cas off. "Get him home safe, you hear?"

Cas nodded and slid behind the wheel, taking a second to orient himself to the way Dean had his mirrors set up before he pointed the Impala to Missouri's house.


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh my god, why did I drink that much?" Dean groaned into the crook of his arm.

"I can't answer that for you, sugar, but sit on this instead. The tiles in here are always cold." Missouri sat a folded towel next to him and Dean wiggled until he could pull it under his knees. "Now, what are we going to do about you, huh?"

Dean groaned and dry-heaved before he answered her. "Not let me drink this much again?"

"That's a good start," Missouri hummed as she rubbed his back. "What else?"

"Ugh, Mama, I'm not even sure where to start."

"Alright, well sit there and listen, then. You're gonna get this out of your system, and then you are going to drink a glass of water and take something for the headache you'll have in the morning. When you wake up, you're gonna come down and eat breakfast and then call Charlie and tell her what's happened."

Dean nodded in understanding.

"Alright baby. Now, you think you are done trying to relocate your toenails?"

Dean laughed, then groaned. "That's gross, Mama."

Missouri chuckled in response. "True, but it got a laugh out of you, and that's what I was going for. Now up you get."

She herded him into his bedroom and he crawled into bed, pulling the sheets over his head. She smoothed the hair back from his forehead, bussed his cheek with a kiss, and retreated, leaving him alone to fall asleep.

When he woke up, he groaned and felt a small body next to his shift. He curled around his daughter and buried his nose in her hair. "Hey punkin’," he murmured.

Emma snuggled into his side. "Hey, Daddy. Mama sent me up to see if you were awake and you looked like you needed cuddles so." She shrugged. "We cuddled."

Dean chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you climbed in here. It's been a while since we got to snuggle just us."

They laid in bed for a few more minutes and dozed until the smell of bacon wafted up the steps and into the room. Emma's nose twitched and Dean's stomach grumbled. They untangled themselves from the bedding and trooped down the steps, stumbling into the kitchen.

"Well, there you are," Missouri smiled over her shoulder. "Breakfast is ready, syrup is on the table. Get the table set and get settled and I'll bring everything in here in a sec."

Dean laid his head down on Missouri's shoulder as Emma climbed up to get the plates down from the cabinet. "Thanks, Mama."

Missouri pressed her cheek to the top of his head. "For what?"

"Everything."

Missouri hummed and finished scrambling the eggs. "You know you don't have to thank me, but since you did, you are more than welcome, honey. Now help Emma before she falls off and cracks her head open."

Dean chuckled and pulled away, catching Emma as she fell off the counter. He righted her on the floor and handed off the plates. He gathered the forks and butter knives and followed her. Jack's already at the table, so Dean gave him his silverware and laid the other three sets out around him. Missouri followed with a bowl of scrambled eggs and two plates, one with bacon and the other with pancakes.

Breakfast was quiet, and Dean washed his food down with another dose of painkillers and some orange juice. Missouri conscripted the kids into helping with the dishes, leaving Dean alone to call Charlie.

"Domino's Pizza, what can I get you?"

"Uh. Charlie?"

"Oh, hey Dean!" He could hear the sound of crunching in the background. "What can I do for you?"

"Um, well, some shit went down last night and uh, I kinda figured you'd want to know about it."

"Lay it on me."

He laid out everything that had happened the night before and everything he'd learned from Cas and Lisa. The crunching continued as he talked, but Charlie made the appropriate noises as she ate her breakfast.

"So," a gulp, "did you actually throw any punches last night at the bar?"

"Nah, Jo did though."

"Alright. I'll file an injunction for you on Lydia. Want me to file an order of protection as well?"

Dean chewed his lip. "Do you think it's necessary?"

"Dunno. I just feel like she's got something up her sleeve, you know? Why else would she fly all the way down from Boston just to try to get you to sign the papers? I think she's showed her hand by demanding the return of the shop contents. I think she was planning on making a profit off your work."

"Well, that makes me glad I took your advice to hire Gabe to get all our stuff out, then."

"Mmhmm. Alright, you take it easy, I'll get everything started first thing in the morning, alright?"

"Thanks, Char."

"No problem, dude. Catch you later."

"Hey Dean-o, can I talk to you a minute?"

Dean sighed and finished entering the last bit of information for inventory before he turned around and faced Garth. "What's up, man?"

"Um, well. I've got another complaint against you."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Now what?"

"Lilith Rose posted a Yelp review saying that we sent her the wrong items from her online order and you refused to swap them out when she came in to complain."

Dean ran his hand through his hair. "Garth, she didn't get the wrong item, man. She _ordered_ it wrong. And when she came to complain, she did so after we were already closed. I offered to take the items from her and replace them the next morning, even offered to drive them out to her place myself, and she refused. Said she wanted the swap to be done right then and there, which yes, I did refuse since we had already locked up and were standing outside. It was well after our posted hours of operation."

Garth nodded. "Did it get physical?"

"Yeah, she pushed me and then stomped off when I wouldn't budge from my decision."

"But you never touched her, right?"

Dean shook his head. "No way. And you can pull the security footage if you need to, I remember about what time it was that she came by."

Garth brightened at this. "That would be great, Dean. This way I can have all the info ready to go to the Sheriff."

Dean looked over at Garth, startled. "Sheriff Mills? Why?"

Garth shrugged. "Two reasons, actually. One, she assaulted you. Two, I need to let Jody know that this is becoming a problem with people going after you for no reason. It's a trend, and I really don't want to see you get hurt.” He tilted his head to the side in thought, then lifted a third finger. “Third, this is harassment against the store."

"Oh. But, I mean, for me -"

"Dean," Garth said patiently, "Please don't fight me on this one. I'm really worried about you and you are my friend. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Dean sagged. "Alright. Let's do this then."

Garth patted Dean's shoulder as they closed up the store and headed to the station.

Emma waved at a few people as she ran up to her only friend. "Hi, Julia!"

Julia turned around and squealed. "Emma! It's up, it's up! It's up! The audition list is up! I hope I'm near the beginning."

Emma grinned at her friend. "I'm so nervous."

"Emma! Emma!"

Oh man, it was her dad. So not cool around her friend.

"Hey, I was gonna do a poem," Julia said as they walked toward the doors.

Emma considered. "But they don't like too many poems," she said as they lined up to go inside.

The playground monitor, Chris, jogged over to the fence. "Hey, Dean."

Dean sagged on the top of the fence. "Hey, Chris. How are you?"

Chris leaned against the fence and shrugged. "Fine. What's up?"

"Oh!" Dean stood up and held up Emma's lunch box. "I was wondering if you could-" He saw Emma look over her shoulder at him. "Emma! Emma, sweetheart!"

Emma looked away again.

Julia nudged her shoulder and asked, "Hey isn't that your dad?"

Emma just looked down and shrugged. "Come on, the line is moving to go in, let's go."

Dean sighed as he watched his daughter go inside. He looked over to Chris. "Could you give this to her? She forgot her lunch."

Chris nodded, "Sure, man, no problem." He took the box from Dean, turned and walked inside.

Dean waved at Chris’s back. "Yeah, thanks." He turned away and walked back down the street. He stopped outside Bobby's shop, chewing on his lip as he thought. The door opened and Bobby stuck his head out.

"You comin’ in or are you just gonna stand there like an idjit?"

Dean grinned and walked over, shaking Bobby's hand. "Hey, Bobby."

Bobby grumbled as they walked over to the office. "Hey, Bobby yourself. What were ya out there thinkin’ so hard about?"

Dean shrugged and leaned against the counter. "Just thinkin’ of what I could start as a project in my spare time." He looked down at his hands and flexed his fingers. "I miss working with the wood, you know?"

Bobby took off his hat and scratched his head. "Can't say that I do, but I do know what it's like to miss tinkering with the cars in that old junkyard." He put his cap back on and looked over Dean's shoulder. "You know, son. I wonder if there isn't anything we can find in that old yard that you can use to build your furniture."

"Like use the old car parts?" Dean tilted his head as he thought about it. "I think that could work."

"You could use it for car buffs, or maybe wall art too."

Dean nodded. "That actually sounds pretty cool." His shoulders slumped. "But, where would I sell it? I can't imagine that many people here would want to buy stuff like that."

Bobby smacked him on the back of the head with his hat. "Boy, it's a thing called the Internet."

Dean rubbed the back of his head. "Not sure I'm a fan of the Internet these days, Bobby. But, you do have a point."

"That's the spirit. Come by the junkyard later and see if you can find any parts and get some of that crap out of my hair."

Dean laughed. "You got it, Bobby."

"Hey, honey," Missouri said as she walked into Emma's room. "Your dad called a while ago and he said he'd be home soon. Do you want me to tuck you in?"

Emma nodded.

Missouri grinned as she sat down on the bed. "Yeah? How tight?"

Emma grinned back and lifted her arms. "Tight."

Missouri stood up and started tucking the blanket around her until Emma nodded and laid her arms down and tugged her rabbit to her. Missouri sat down again. "Okay. Snug as a bug in a rug. You're so much like your uncle. He used to love me to tuck him in real tight."

Emma bit her lip. "But, I'm not like him. We're different. It's like we're not even relatives sometimes."

Missouri hummed under her breath. "Oh, well, yeah. Yeah, l know what you mean," she said, nodding. "Relatives are trouble. I couldn't agree more. I ever tell you about Walter, my cousin?"

Emma shook her head.

"No? Well, what you have to go through with your mama, the suffering, that's what l had to suffer with from Walter. One day, we were playing out back, down by the river and we came across the most beautiful anthill you ever saw. And then Walter, he immediately kicked it and stomped on it and just scattered it to the four winds. I just started howling. I was just-" she laughed. "I yelled for my mama. I ran up and I grabbed her and dragged her down there, just crying and carrying on. Anyway, my mama was trying to calm me down, so she said: 'Wait, wait. They're not finished. Not by a long shot.' And we waited and waited and sure enough, those little black specks just started scurrying every which way just working hard to build their home back. And l said, 'Why did they do it? I'd just give up. I mean, it's hopeless.' And my mama said, 'Yeah, you know if there's just one of you. But there's lots of ants down there. And they're all relatives. They're family, just like we are.' Well, that's what families are for. That's why they invented families. So hopeless didn't get the last word. So listen, if ants can do it, I figure we can do it. You know, my Dean has a lot more strength than he's ever known. And one of these days, he's going to realize it."

Emma grinned at Missouri. "I love you, Mama."

"Oh, honey. Honey. 'My cup runneth over.'" She leaned over and hugged Emma tightly. "Say, haven't you got a birthday coming up here pretty soon? You want to tell Grandma what you wish for?"

Emma shook her head.

Missouri raised an eyebrow at her. "No?"

"Nope!"

"Well, never mind. I'll figure that out. I have my magic ways. Good night, honey." Missouri leaned down and kissed Emma on the forehead. She turned on the night light and left the door open a crack before she went to bed. She sat down and shook her head, trying to clear the blurriness from her eyes before she laid down and went to sleep.

The next morning, Missouri and Emma walked down the stairs into the kitchen and Missouri smiled at her son, sitting at the table. "I'm gonna get some tea. You want some?"

Dean shook his head. "No, I'm okay. Thanks."

Missouri looked down at Emma. How about you?"

"That sounds good. Do you have any Earl Grey?"

Missouri chuckled as they walked into the kitchen. Dean smiled down into his coffee cup as he listened to his daughter chatter to Missouri. A clatter made him look up.

"Grandma? Grandma!"

Dean shoved his chair back and ran into the kitchen. "Mama?"

Missouri was leaning on the stove, the kettle on the floor next to her. Dean stood next to her as she looked at him, dazed.

"Mama, what's wrong?"

She shook her head and started talking gibberish at Dean. She tried to take a step and started to fall.

Dean caught her. "Oh, God! Mama!" He lowered her to the floor and looked at Emma. "Emma, go dial 911." She ran up the stairs and Dean turned back to Missouri. "Come on, not now, Mama. Not now. Don't do this to me now, Mama." He shook her when she closed her eyes. "Come on, Mama, don't do this to me now. Wake up, Mama."

Her hand shook as she laid it on his cheek. Tears dripped down Dean's face when she went limp. He grabbed up her hand and rocked her back and forth. "Mama, wake up! Wake up! Mama! Mama, please. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. No. No. No…"

"Mr. Winchester?"

Dean lifted his head from his hands and looked at the young woman dressed in green scrubs. "Yeah, that's me."

She walked over to him and sat in the chair next to him. "Your mom is OK."

Dean's breath left him in a gust. "Thank God."

"Thank your daughter, actually," she said. "If the ambulance hadn't gotten to your mother when it did and gotten her here, it could have been much worse." She laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not going to tell you it's going to be easy, though. She's had a massive stroke. We won't know what the lasting effects are going to be until she wakes up and we start an assessment, but for the most part, she'll be fine."

"Thank you," Dean said as she stood up. "When can I go see her?"

"Right now, if you want to. She's asleep right now."

"Thanks." Dean stood up and shook her hand and went into the room she pointed out. He slipped in and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "Oh Mama," he sobbed as he took her hand. "You scared me. Please don't do that again."

He sat silently, listening to the noises of the machines that monitored Missouri. He shook his head and pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialing Sammy. He picked up after three rings.

"Dean?"

"Hey Sammy," he croaked.

"Dean, what's wrong?"

Dean ran his hand down his face and sighed. "Mama's in the hospital." Sam gasped and Dean spoke over him. "She's alright, but she's had a stroke."

"Oh my God. We'll be there as soon as possible."

"Thanks, Sam. Can you do me a favor and stop by the house and grab the kids? We kinda had to rush out and they’re still there."

"You got it, Dean. I'll see you in a few hours, OK?"

The line went dead, and someone cleared their throat behind him. Dean looked over his shoulder and scowled at Lydia.

"What do you want," he asked, looking back to Missouri.

"Look, I know this isn't the best time-"

"Then go away," Dean cut in.

Lydia huffed. "Dean, stop being a child about this. Sign the papers and I'll go."

He thumbed his phone and called Charlie. He let it ring until she picked up, then continued. "Lydia, I already told you that you'd have to go through my lawyer."

"Dean, stop trying to make me feel guilty about this. All I'm guilty of is falling in love."

Dean snorted. "You talking about me or Cole? Cause it seems like you fall in love pretty easily these days. Just as easily as you discarded your husband and daughter."

"Now that's not fair-"

Dean sat the phone down on the bed beside Missouri and rounded on Lydia, cutting her off. "No, you know what's not fair? The way you've treated us. No, forget me. The way you've treated _Emma_. If you fell out of love with me, that's fine. But you should have left a long time ago instead of skirtin' around behind my back."

Lydia's face turned red.

Dean sighed. "I would have stayed with you forever, you know. But your actions, your choices, have not only driven me away but our daughter as well." He looked over his shoulder at Missouri. "Go away, Lydia. You've made your choice. My lawyer will be in touch. Please don't make me call security." He turned away and sat down in the chair again, and took Missouri's hand. Lydia's heels clicked as she walked down the hallway and Dean put the phone to his ear. "You get all that, Red?"

"Yeah, I did. I'll get everything written up and the papers should be ready for you to sign Monday."

"Thanks, Char." He disconnected the phone and laid his head on Missouri's hand.

"Sam! Lydia's here!" Jess screeched and pointed at the woman in question standing on the porch, her hand wrapped around Emma's arm.

Sam slammed on the breaks and threw the car into park as Jess bailed out of the passenger side. They heard Emma screaming at Lydia and Jack talking in the background, the house phone pressed to his ear. Jess stormed up the steps and grabbed Lydia's shoulder, startling her into letting go of Emma, and spun her around.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Jess growled in Lydia's face.

Sam knelt down and waved the kids over as the two women argued. Emma's face was tear-streaked and Jack was still muttering into the phone as they flew down the steps and into the safety of Sam's arms.

"Miss Mills, Uncle Sam is here, do you want to talk to him?" Jack nodded and handed the phone to Sam.

"Hey Sheriff," Sam said as he tucked the phone between his ear and his shoulder. The shouting on the porch got louder.

"Sam, I'm already on my way. Charlie filed an order of protection and Lydia knows she's not allowed to go anywhere near that house."

A _crack!_ sounded and Sam looked over his shoulder and huffed a laugh. "Well, she won't be able to fight you by the time you get here, at least."

"Oh?"

Sam grinned at his wife, who grinned back. "Nope. Looks like Jess knocked her out and is now sitting on her. Lydia isn't going anywhere."

Jody laughed. "Well, considering you two stopped an attempted kidnapping, it's the least that woman deserves. OK, I'm hanging up I'll be there in a sec."

Sam turned the phone off and handed it back to Jack. "Good job, buddy," he said as he ruffled Jack's hair.

"Mama told me to call Miss Mills if anyone ever came to the house and tried to scare us. So when Emma screamed I called her. I don't want Emma to be scared anymore." Jack buried his face in the side of Sam's neck and shivered. Emma hugged her cousin to her and Sam wrapped his arms around them both and waited for Jody to get there.


	9. Chapter 9

Dean turned at the sound of footsteps and saw Sam over the flying blond hair of his daughter. She jumped in his lap and snuggled into his chest. Dean raised his eyebrow at his brother in question as he and Jess came in.

"Lydia was at the house when we got there," Sam said as he set Jack down next to Missouri.

Dean growled and Emma shifted in his lap. "What did she do?"

"Ultimately? Nothing." Jess sat down in one of the chairs and Sam dragged the last one over next to Dean. "She apparently was there to try to take Emma back to Boston with her."

Dean hugged Emma tighter to his chest. "What?!" he whisper-shouted.

"Dude, she never had a chance. Between Jack and Jess here there was no way she was going to get Emma off the porch, let alone out of the town."

"I called Miss Mills," Jack threw in from the bed.

"And Jess was so awesome," the muffled explanation came from Dean's chest. Emma lifted her head and grinned at Jess. "She knocked Mom out when she wouldn't leave."

Dean's jaw dropped and his eyebrows shot up as he looked at Jess. "Really?"

Jess grinned. "Yup."

"And then what happened?"

A chorus of "Mama!" echoed in the room as everyone's heads whipped toward the bed where Missouri was hugging Jack to her chest and smiling. Dean raised the bed a little so that she was sitting up and once she was settled again, she waved her hand at Emma.

"Well, don't be leaving me in suspense, sugar. What happened after Jess knocked Lydia out?" She slurred her words a little, but her eyes twinkled.

Emma grinned. "Well, then she sat on Mom until Jody got there and Jody put her in the squad car."

"And then we came here to see you," Jack said.

"Well," Missouri hums. "It sounds like you two had a very interesting morning." She looked up at Dean. "What happened before all that?"

Dean propped his chin on Emma's head. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Making tea. But after that, it gets all fuzzy."

"You scared us, Mama," Emma whispered.

Dean hummed in agreement. "Well, docs said you had a stroke. I don't know much more than that right now, so don't ask." He chuckled as Missouri and Sam both snapped their mouths shut. "She said that we wouldn't know more until you woke up, which you have, and we should probably tell someone that."

"No need Mr. Winchester." Dean looked over his shoulder to see the same doctor from before walking in. "Well now, this is a fine family you have here, Miss Mosely."

Missouri smiled and nodded her head. "Sure is."

A week after Missouri's stroke found Dean back at work. Garth and Crowley both were happy to have him back and he settled back into the flow of the store.

Garth worked with him to make sure that Dean was able to stay with Missouri while she was an inpatient with the hospital and not lose out on pay. With Jess and Sam staying with them until further notice, Dean was grateful not only for the live-in childcare for Emma and Jack but the distraction as well. Missouri's stroke had been shocking, and the staff decided that she needed to go right to a rehab center. Their social worker, Lyndsey, was the only thing that kept Dean from going off the deep end before they transferred Missouri to a center about thirty minutes away. Garth again came to Dean's rescue when the family appointments with the occupational therapist started up, shifting his hours around so that he could not only make the appointments but also make it home in time to make dinner.

After a month, though, it all went to hell.

Ruby and Lilith continued to cause Dean no end of grief, to the point where even the unflappable Crowley was becoming irritated. It all came to a head one Tuesday afternoon when Garth called him into his office.

Dean hurried into the man's office, wiping sweat from his forehead. "What's up, boss?"

"Sit, Dean." Garth's face looked like a thunderhead and Dean felt his heartrate kick up a notch as he lowered himself into the chair in front of his desk. Garth sighed and set his forearms on the desk before leaning forward.

"Dean," he says, face grave. "I'm gonna have to let you go."

Dean spluttered in shock. "What?! Why?"

"Nothing you've done, that's for sure," Garth growled. He sat back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "Honestly, I don't agree with Crowley's decision to let you go, but the man does value money over everything." Garth sits back up and levels a look at Dean and heaved a sigh. "Think of this as me pushing you out of the nest though. It could be a good thing."

Dean raised an eyebrow at Garth. "How?" he asked, flatly.

Garth chuckled. "Dean, I've seen the work you can do with those hands of yours. You are so talented and should be commissioning _us_ to sell your items, not working here selling everyone else's."

Dean raised an eyebrow at Garth at that. "Do I even want to know how you know what my work looks like?"

Garth shrugged. "Cas showed me pictures of a few things when the movers got it all here and unpacked."

Dean grinned and shook his head. "Should have known." His smile dropped off his face and he sat back, running his hands over his face. "Shit, Garth, I'm sorry about all this."

Garth hummed. "It's not your fault, truly, Dean. I honestly think that given a little more time things would settle down when everyone realizes you are here to stay and not stir up trouble. Everything coming out about Lydia doesn't hurt, either."

Dean huffed a laugh. "Man, I really had no idea just how manipulative she was in school. Honest to God, man, I didn't know about any of that shit she spread around before we graduated. All I saw was everyone drawing away, but no one would tell me why."

Garth got up and slapped a hand on Dean's back. "Well, it's in the past and, as I'm fond of saying, it can darn well stay there," he said with a grin. "Now. I don't plan on booting you out of here without at least a full 40 hours of pay, no matter what Crowley says. So let's get back to work, hey?"

"You got it, man."

Dean waved goodbye to Garth after they closed up for the day before he dropped down into the driver's seat of Baby, sighing heavily. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes hard enough for bursts of colors to appear behind his eyelids before dropping them into his lap.

"Talk about shit timing," he muttered to himself as he put Baby in drive and pointed her toward home. He caught a glance of Bobby's store out of the corner of his eye and pulled in to a parking spot. Bobby waved at him in greeting when the bell rang as Dean opened the door.

"How's Missouri?" Bobby asked as Dean gave him a hug.

"Better," Dean said as he settled on the barstool next to Bobby's. "Her therapists think she'll be able to come home soon. Her speech has gotten better and she's moving around on her own now. Everyone is happy with her progress considering how bad the stroke was."

"That's good." Bobby quirked an eyebrow. "So what's got you all down in the dumps?"

"Got let go at work."

Bobby's beard twitched as he frowned. "Lemme guess, that Ruby girl and her shit?"

Dean's eyebrows raised in surprise. "You knew about that?"

"Course I did," Bobby scoffs. "Everyone did. She's been flappin’ her gab at anyone who will listen to her. Not that there's many of those left." He took his hat off and scratched his head. "Well, offer still stands to let you sell your work here, ya know."

Dean shot him a lopsided grin. "Thanks, Bobby. I have a feeling I'll be taking you up on that offer sooner rather than later."

Emma was running down the stairs as Dean parked, and launched herself into his arms as soon as he slammed the door shut.

"Well hello to you too, punkin’," Dean said as he twirled her around in a big hug.

Emma giggled. "Hey, Dad. How was work?" she asked as Dean set her back down on the ground.

"Eh, not great. But that's neither here nor there," he answered as they walked back to the porch hand-in-hand. Dean broke out into a huge smile when he saw Cas and Jack sitting on the swing reading. "Well if it isn't two of my favorite guys!"

"Uncle Dean!" Jack cried, as he flung himself out of the swing and wrapped his arms around Dean's legs.

"Hello, Dean," Cas said, a smile on his face. "I'll refrain from greeting you the way those two did."

"Appreciate that, Cas," Dean said as he grabbed the monkey wrapped around his legs and lifted him over his head, making Jack squeal in delight. Both men broke out into grins when Emma started hopping around Dean making hooting noises.

"What in the world is going on out here?" Jess asked from the screen door. "It sounds like the whole jungle is out there!"

Jack hooted at her from his perch on Dean's shoulders. "That's cause there's a whole troop of monkeys out here, Aunt Jess!"

"Oh, well that makes sense, seeing as you are perched as high up as you can go!" Jess said as she pushed the door open. "Well, if you monkeys are hungry you better get in here, 'cause dinner is ready."

Emma whooped and ran inside as Jack scrambled down Dean's body to follow her. Dean could hear Sam telling them to wash their hands first as Jess winked and let the screen snap shut.

Dean sighed and sank down on the swing next to Cas, letting his head rest on his friend's shoulder.

"Are you OK?" Cas asked.

Dean hummed. "Not really. I'm exhausted and got fired today."

Dean's head slipped from its perch when Castiel whipped around to face him. "What?!"

Dean shrugged his shoulders. "Crowley values money over anything, and the shit Ruby and her crew keep pulling finally pushed him into letting me go." Dean picked at the seam of his jeans. "But I stopped by Bobby's on the way home and we talked. He's still serious about letting me have a part of the shop to sell my work."

Cas’s eyes lit up. "Dean, that's wonderful!"

"Yeah, but it's scary too." Dean looked away, a frown settling over his features. "What if no one wants to buy anything? What if it's no good, or -"

Cas cut him off, laying a hand on Dean's thigh. "Dean, you know none of that is true. Plenty of people in town have been asking to see more of your work. I know that how they saw it in the first place is painful," Dean winced at the reminder, "but it did get it _seen._ And you can use that to your advantage."

"What, that video?"

Cas nodded. "Use that internet fame to your advantage. Make some videos, get a website up. At the very least it should attract people who have a morbid sense of humor."

Dean leaned back, setting the swing in motion. "That's not a bad idea, Cas." He chewed his lip for a few minutes, thinking. He lifted his eyes to Cas' and a grin spread across his face. "Know anyone who can help me do all of this?"

Cas grinned. "As a matter of fact, I do."

"Alright hombre," Ash said from his spot behind the camera. "Let's get some pictures for the website and your Facebook page. Smile!"

Dean's blinded for a moment when the flash went off, and he scowled at Ash. "A little warning next time, dude."

Ash snickered as he checked the picture in the viewer. "What fun would that be? Plus, you would have blinked, so this works out well." He hummed and nodded at the camera. "This is perfect for your 'About Me' page. Alright, let’s get some shots of your work, hey?"

They moved through the area, Ash snapping pictures of everything from the tiny carvings all the way to the biggest project Dean had finished before they left Boston, a dining room table and a set of four chairs and a bench. Dean ran his hand over the soft white pine, smiling down at the details he's carved into the wood before staining and sealing it. The table is perfect for a large family.

"OK amigo," Ash said, drawing Dean out of his thoughts. "I've got everything I need. Let me know when you start putting your new work area to good use and I'll come by and shoot some videos."

Dean clapped Ash on the shoulder, shooting him a smile. "Thanks, man."

Ash puffed a breath through his lips and waved Dean off. "Dude, really, it's my pleasure. We'll get you rolling in the money in no time."

Dean snorted a laugh as he waved goodbye. He turned back to his new space, a small smile on his lips as he took it in again.

Turned out Dean had a _lot_ more stuff than he'd thought, and Bobby didn't have enough space to display everything in the main store. He did have a few of Dean's smaller pieces, but when they found out the spot next to the store was vacant, Bobby jumped on it. Dean had tried to protest but a glare from the older man shut him up rather quickly.

Bobby could be scary when he wanted to be.

So, the addition of shelving for the smaller items went in, and the bigger pieces were hauled in from the back. The place looked like a proper store, and Dean's chest swelled with pride. He ran his fingers over everything in reach as he made his way to the back of the store, inhaling the scent of the different types of wood as he went. He locked the door that separated the shop from the front, and strong arms wrapped around his middle.

"Hello, Dean."

Dean let his head drop onto Cas' shoulder, a smile on his face. "Heya Cas."

A kiss to his cheek and a squeeze of the arms around his waist drew a grunt from Dean. He extracted himself from Cas' embrace and sighed. "You ready to help me get Mama home?"

"Of course."

The sounds of laughter drifted in through the back door, making Dean smile. He plated up the rest of the burger patties and picked up the plate, backing out through the screen door, letting it slam shut behind him. He dropped a kiss on the top of Missouri's head as he passed and winked at her when she looked up at him and smiled. Her hands were finally steady enough to start knitting, something her OT had suggested, and she was working on something or other as the kids chased each other around the backyard.

He grinned at Sam and Jess as he sat the plate down on the table next to the grill. For a few minutes, he was fully absorbed in making sure the patties didn't fall apart as he transferred them to the grill until arms wrapped around his waist.

"Well hey there, handsome."

Dean grinned and leaned back into Cas' chest. "Hey there, yourself, sunshine."

Cas hummed and hooked his chin over Dean's shoulder. "Dinner looks almost done."

"Yup. If you wanna help, cover that plate with the tinfoil so I can put them back on it when they are done." Dean eyed his boyfriend (and boy wasn't _that_ something to get used to) as he made sure the plate was covered with the foil. He quirked a smile at him when Cas looked back over.

"Daddy!" Emma came running over to the grill. "Is dinner done yet? Jack's starving!"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Starving huh? Well, it's a good thing that these are almost done. Better get in there and wash your hands." They ran inside, fighting to get in the door first, and Dean laughed out loud.

The radio station playing 90's country switched from the station identification to a new song right as Dean finished putting the cooked burgers on the plate, and Cas leaned over and bumped the volume up before turning to Dean.

"Dance with me?" he asked, hand outstretched.

The piano melody twined around in the night air as Dean stepped up to Cas, letting the other man take him in his arms. The others on the patio were quiet as they danced to an old Garth Brooks song.

And Dean smiled. 

_I hear all the time that childhood is the happiest time of your life. But l think that's wrong. I think Mama's right. She says-- Childhood is what you spend the rest of your life trying to overcome. That's what Mama used to say. She said, "Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad but it's the middle that counts the most." You need to remember that when you find yourself at the beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up._

_And it will too._

**Author's Note:**

> You can come find me on [Tumblr](https://wargurl83.tumblr.com/).  
> Check out my other stories [here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wargurl83/works).  
> And you can always come talk to me on the [ProfoundBond Discord](http://discord.profoundbond.net/) if you are a Destiel lover like me!


End file.
